See the Rainbow

It was, in a way, ironic. Several days after sending condolences to a friend who'd lost his friend in an accident, I read another friend's blog entry. One of her students had passed away after an unsuccessful operation, and I thought of sending her a message too.

Logging into my email, little did I expect to receive a message, informing us that a friend who had studied here with us a few years ago had passed away from a rare form of cancer. Although we'd been told about her cancer several months back, we were still stunned by the news of her death.

I was reminded of another friend who had passed away several years ago, back when we were in high school, due to a freak accident. It had been so sudden, and I remembered calling mutual friends, all of us trying to determine whether the news we'd received was real or just a big mistake. We were only 17, she was so young, and her life had held so much potential.

Now, it was like deja vu. However, it seems that no matter how many times you hear such news or prepare yourself, you'll never be de-sensitised nor immune to it. Which may not be such a bad thing, in a sense, I don't think I could bear the thought of being unaffected by the death of someone I know. It sounds morbid, I know, but still ...

Perhaps the news strikes closer because both of them were so young, with so much potential ahead of them.
Perhaps it's because just some time ago, I was standing there next to them, talking and laughing with them.
Perhaps it's because they were the same age as I was, going through similar struggles as I was, which leaves you inevitably re-examining your life, and facing the uncomfortable reality that there's still so much to do, accomplish, and fulfil in your life. What had I done with my life, how much more could I have done with the time that had gone by, and what did I want to do with the time ahead?

Perhaps we mourn, not just for the loss of our friend as a person, but also for the loss of time that could potentially have been spent with them, and the loss of future opportunities to know them better. And for some, we mourn the eternal separation, no longer able to share with them again.

However, thankfully, for many, we still have memories of them that we can hold and treasure. Although I wasn't very close friends with her, I remembered a gentle dreaminess behind her bubbly personality, and her chattiness whenever we met during gatherings, how we often joked and griped about having so many people around with the same name as us (yes, we had the same name :) , our struggles with studies, travelling, and plans.

I'm sure that along the way, these friends have brought joy, and have touched the lives of the people whose paths they'd crossed. And I pray that their families and friends would be comforted by God's unfailing love, that their hearts would be healed, and that He would restore their peace, renew their joy, and grant them the strength to continue on. To see the rainbow after the rain.

Several years ago, my friends and I mourned for the loss of our friend too, but her passing away also helped us to realise how precious and fragile life is, and how we should make the most of the time that we have here, as well as to treasure the people in our lives.

It reminded us that we should be thankful too, for what we have been blessed with. Someone once wrote, 'To have loved, and to have been loved, is the greatest blessing'. We're blessed to be loved, by a God who would never leave us nor forsake us (Joshua 1:5), as well as by our families and friends. We're blessed with this gift, our life, and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others, even in the littlest ways... through a smile, a listening ear, a phonecall, a helping hand, sharing with them about our source of hope and love... and by valuing and investing in the things that are more eternal, rather than those that are temporal and evanescent.

A poignant reminder, perhaps, with Valentine's day drawing near too, to treasure our loved ones and friends, and to make the most of the time that we have with them.