Today’s post was inspired by the Khoutba or sermon given by our Imam last Friday. Reflecting upon it, I realized that I wrote a blog entry last year entitled “In this one life, how do you want to be remembered?” in which I was talking about how short life is, and how many people take it for granted. The Imam’s perspective was, of course, religious but nonetheless very relevant to our mundane life.

Time does not wait for anyone. However you choose to spend it is your choice. What you neglect to do today, at this very moment, is gone, you can not make up for it. The Imam made the point that the number one request for the people who already passed, is to have one more chance to come back to life and do the right thing, do good deeds, to be closer to their Maker. We all know that it is a request that’s never granted. So why don’t we avail ourselves of the opportunities that we have to do good before it is too late?

When we think of life as a right, we tend to take it for granted. We live as if it was eternal. Therefore we put things off telling ourselves that we will come back to them. We can play now and work later, we can party now and worship later, not realizing that “later” is not under our control. The only time we have control over is NOW, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but now, this very moment. Because we were all endowed with a free will of choice, what we do with this moment is up to us.

On the other hand, when taken as a gift, life is cherished, it is lived with contentment. We are grateful for every day that comes and goes. Living in this state of mind, we do not procrastinate, instead we get things done. We make the changes that need to be made, we care for the people we need to care for, we love and forgive, we serve and thank. We worship God, because that’s why we were given this gift of life.

If you were going to sit for an exam, and you only have one shot at it, you would certainly study very seriously. The hunter with one bullet does not have the luxury to test his shooting abilities on the field. You get the idea. Life is no different, though it is a beautiful present, each of us has one to live, and we do not determine how long it is going to be, so we have to “strike the iron while it is hot”, so to speak.

Question: I guess the question still remains and it needs to be answered by us individually. Is life a right or a gift? You can leave a comment by clicking here.