The Eternal View

I work in an ICU in a large hospital. I deal with suffering and death on almost a daily basis. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say, “Why him?” or “She was so young,” or “It’s not fair.” I once said these things myself.

“It’s not fair…”

No, life is not fair. We live in a fallen world where bad things happen to good people, and the wicked go about their business. As a boy, I can remember feeling incredulous whenever an adult would say, “Who told you life was fair?” But life isn’t fair, and our souls cry out whenever injustice or disaster strikes. Something inside us wants fairness; we long for justice, order and control. We want health and happiness, long life and prosperity. And when death strikes prematurely, we ask, “Why? Why?”

But I don’t believe people always looked at it this way. I have a friend: her name is Saint Therese of Lisieux—the Little Flower. She was a 19th century Carmelite nun, and her religious name was Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. She died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis. In her short life, she reached a spiritual maturity achieved by few, and she’s taught me a lot. I was studying a list of her family one day and found something very interesting: Therese was the youngest of nine children, and four of her sisters were Sisters. What struck me, though, was that Therese never knew three of her siblings. Her sister Helene died at the age of five-and-a-half, almost three years before Therese was born. And her two brothers, Joseph-Louis and Joseph-Jean-Baptiste, both died before their first birthday, before Therese was born. Three out of nine, one third, died as young children, and Therese never even met them! In today’s world, this would be considered a horrible tragedy, but I don’t think it was back then.

I did a little research: if we were living during the time of the Roman Empire, we could expect to live around 28 years. Today, in the early 21st century United States, the average life expectancy is around 77 years. This increase is due mainly to better sanitation and medical technology. A recent article reported on a conference on life expectancy and enhancement at Oxford University; the scientists gathered there believe average life expectancy will be extended to 112 years or more. One Cambridge scientist believes people can live 1,000 years using stem cells, gene therapy and other techniques! A quick internet search on “longevity” resulted in over 28 million links to sources for anti-aging clinics, human growth hormone, vitamins, antioxidants and other supplements. Long life is big business.

Don’t misunderstand me; there’s nothing wrong with wanting to live a long and healthy life—it’s normal to want that. But when it becomes an obsession, there’s a problem. This secular society we live in tells us that this life is all there is, and that’s it. If we believe that, then death becomes a bad thing. In times past, life was hard and often short, but people believed in God and trusted in the promise of eternity. Somewhere along the line, though, people began trusting in science, technology and modern medicine; men began trusting in their own abilities rather than in God. Again, don’t get me wrong, science and medicine are good (that’s how I make my living), but we need to remember who created the universe to begin with! Always, we need to put our faith in Him first. We should trust and obey our Father in Heaven.

But at some point, we little human beings began to question the very existence of God! Now, the message of this modern, irreverent world we live in says that, “There is no God (but we don’t need Him anyway because we’re going to find the fountain of youth).” I was once very much a part of that culture. I believed that if I exercised and ate the right foods and took the right vitamins, I would live a long and healthy life. I was in control of my own destiny. That’s all well and good until some drunk driver runs a red light and you’re in the middle of the intersection, or until a disgruntled coworker has a breakdown and brings an automatic weapon to the office and starts blasting away! Or maybe one day you find a lump in your breast…

The point is, none of us knows how long we’re going to be on this Earth; despite our best efforts, we may not have a long life. Remember, every day is a gift. A friend once said to me, “It doesn’t matter whether you live six years, or ninety, either way is a really short time compared to eternity.”

If we try to visualize this, we could imagine that our life on this Earth, no matter how long or how short, is a single, solitary point on a road that stretches into infinity. Our life is a mist, a puff of smoke, over in the blink of an eye…

But eternity is forever!

Our Lord said there are many rooms in His Father’s house; He promises every tear will be wiped away, and there will be no more crying or pain. We’re told that the human mind has not conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. The glory of Heaven is beyond what we can even imagine!

If we buy into the secular, atheistic perspective that this life is all there is, then misfortune and death become tragedy. If we live our lives this way, we teach our children that when these things happen, our lives are ruined. No wonder there is so much anxiety, depression, alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide. No wonder everyone’s rushing around chasing after prosperity and fun and entertainment, trying to create Heaven on Earth. But Jesus told us to seek first the Kingdom of God… and His Kingdom is not of this world.

If we believe in the promise of eternity in Heaven for those who love God, then illness, financial hardship, the loss of a spouse, or even the death of a child are no longer cause for despair. When we take the eternal view, we need not grieve like those who have no hope. When we take the eternal view, we can find peace and hope in the midst of the worst hardship or loss.

My friend Saint Therese understood this very well. In her autobiography, STORY OF A SOUL, she wrote, “I imagine I was born in a country that is covered in thick fog. I never had the experience of contemplating the joyful appearance of nature flooded and transformed by the brilliance of the sun. It is true that from childhood I heard people speak of these marvels, and I know that the country I am living in is not my true fatherland, and there is another I must long for without ceasing. This is not simply a story invented by someone living in the sad country where I am, but it is a reality, for the King of the Fatherland of the bright sun actually came and lived for thirty-three years in the land of darkness. Alas! The darkness did not understand that this Divine King was the Light of the world.”

So let all of us learn a lesson from my friend Saint Therese. Let us always take the eternal view and always remember to long without ceasing for the Kingdom of God!

Saint Therese, the Little Flower, pray for us!