Life is a great gift. But, like any other gift, it depends on its holder’s wisdom to make the most out of it.

For some people life is one unending and monotonous chapter. Maybe in this chapter there isn’t even any title, let alone subtitles! A life without reflection can have the same fate of a long, messy chapter. The person involved would experience only confusion and go round in circles. Be it anger, lust, frustration, loss, etc the person’s growth is stunted because s/he cannot relate to what is happening to him/her. How tragic when reflection is absent! It reminds me of the imagery of the house built upon the sand. When “the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, ... it fell; and great was the fall of it” (Matt 7, 27). Surely it must have been a foolish man’s masterpiece!

On the other hand, there are those who regard life as a book with many chapters. And these chapters are not isolated but are beautifully and intricately connected with one another. In St Ignatius of Antioch’s words, in his letter to the Ephesians, such a life is marked by a remarkable unity “as the strings are to the harp, ... a choir, ... a song ... in unison and one voice”.

While each chapter is strong enough to assert its individuality it does also make room for the following chapter to be peacefully inserted with it. And even if they contrast, they can still live together as “the wolf ... with the lamb [and] the leopard ... with the kid” (Isa 11, 6). No matter how difficult it is, a life seen as a series of connected chapters within a book, is somehow joined together in harmonious concord and love by the power of reflection. Rain falls, floods come, winds blows and beats against this house, but it does not fall because it is founded on rock. A person is capable of seeing his/her life story unfolding into the mystery of God, who is always new and full of surprises!

John N. Mitchell said: “our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us”. Whether life for us is one closed chapter or a series of interconnected chapters, largely depends on the way we see it and live it accordingly.

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap

San Gwann