Time Is Never Promised

Here I am on the 3rd of July just thinking of life and how short it can be. I recently read the news of 28-year-old Soccer player Diogo Jota who played for Liverpool FC in England dying in a car crash along with his 25-year-old brother. He leaves behind 3 kids and a wife he had just married a week ago. It is sad, and I want to offer my condolences to all his loved ones and Liverpool FC. This has me thinking a lot because I almost got into a car crash this morning too. I am 27 and will be 28 in October and if it wasn't for the grace of God I would have suffered the same fate.

I was leaving the gym this morning heading back home and came through an intersection close to the gym in which the other driver clearly had a stop sign and I had the right of way, but he decided not to stop and keep going. Luckily, I always come to a stop in that intersection no matter what because of how narrow the road is around there. I stopped when I saw the other driver didn't stop and luckily, he also stopped when he saw me driving off because I clearly had the right of way. I am thankful we both did and there wasn't any harm done but imagine if none of us did. We never know how much the damage could have impacted us and I wouldn't be here writing about this experience.

The stoic principle Momento Mori is always there to remind us of our mortality and how we are all going to die. This is to remind us that we will all die and to make the most of the time we have and live a meaningful life that is to be remembered when we are gone. Diogo Jota and his brother sure did. Diogo played a huge part in Liverpool FC winning the English Premier league a couple months ago and was also a huge part in the Portugal national team winning the nations league just a couple weeks ago. His 3 kids and his wife are his legacy forever, but they still don't deserve to live with the pain of losing him. Life is very short and apart from the instance this morning there have been other times when I almost experienced the same faith.

A couple months ago I was driving from work at night, and was at a 4-way traffic light. My light had turned green, and I was the car at the front so of course I started to drive forward but suddenly a fire truck speeding with their emergency hazards on started coming from the other side. They may have been responding to an emergency and of course were coming as fast as they could but with me already driving off because I had the green light, I didn't see them coming. We almost collided but luckily the fire department truck quickly went through the wrong lane on the other side and kept going. Talk about a close call.

That was all God and I'm very thankful for his grace and protection, but we always must remember that we never know when our time will come. Diogo and his brother didn't wake up this morning thinking it would be their last day. They were driving to catch a boat to Liverpool from Spain due to doctors advising Diogo to not travel by plane due to him having multiple surgeries recently. Prayers and healing to the loved ones of him and his brother.