Monday, August 10, 2015

Revisiting a Spider-Man quote

In an episode of Spider-Man the animated series, Peter Parker, a man who is used to dealing with adverse circumstances, finds himself completely panic-stricken.  He finds himself framed for a crime that he didn’t commit.  As he contemplates this scary situation, he remarks, “Life is like a thunderstorm.  It’s unpredictable, uncontrollable, sometimes even dangerous.  We’d like to think we have a handle on life; that we are in charge.  Then, without warning, we find out how wrong we really are.”  I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Some of you may recognize that quote as I’ve cited it several times in this blog.  But never in a billion years would I have envisioned that when I first quoted it the path God would eventually have me walk is living a life without my father.  If you want an illustration of just how unpredictable life is, if you want an example of how we are not in charge of life, I invite you to look no further than the death of a 60 year old man who had no signs whatsoever that he was living his last days on this Earth.
 
One of the most arrogant statements I’ve ever heard in my life was when I heard a public speaker state that he “expected” to live to be 100 years old.  Yes, “expect” is the exact word that he used.  What a foolish thing to say!  This experience has taught me afresh that you can’t have a cavalier attitude about life.  Death can come at any age.  It doesn’t say, “Oh, hold on, this person has only lived 6 months, 20 years, 35 years, or 60 years.  I’ll be back later.”  Life is fragile, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted.  I have a keychain that has this inscription on it: “Each day is a gift from God.”  Cherish every day for the gift that it is. 

Kevin

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