2022-2023 From Death To Life
Here are some lessons I have learned from December last year until March of this current year. It all starts with the death of my grandmother and ends with the birth of my son, "B."
The end of 2022 came as a whirlwind, and I took a rain check from writing to meditate on what life, God and family meant to me. Here are some lessons I have learned from December last year until March of this current year. It all starts with the death of my grandmother and ends with the birth of my son, "B."
Confronting Death
My grandmother died after almost 20 years of fighting Alzheimer's disease, most of which she spent in bed. As a family, we all took good care of her. Some of us were in college, out of the country, or starting a family. We all bathed her, changed her diapers, and fed her, just as she helped our mother and father to do with us as babies.
I was not able to give the same amount of support in all seasons, but I always tried to be there. Each day was a reminder of the care she gave us and, probably even more critical, a reminder of the unescapable end for us all; death is coming, and the last final steps on this road of life can happen very quickly or very slowly. If it is the latter, it will be a road that others will walk for me.
Here’s what is so bad about everything that happens on this earth. Death catches up with all of us. Also, the hearts of people are full of evil. They live in foolish pleasure. After that, they join those who have already died. Anyone who is still living has hope. Even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! Ecclesiastes 9:2-4
Planning Now For The Inescapable Future
You see, my grandmother was not able to speak, eat, move, or anything else, but she taught me two essential lessons in her dying years. Who is going to take care of you if you end up in similar conditions? And how can you help them now for when that moment comes?
If we were animals in the jungle and were sick and weak, predators or natural elements would eliminate us very soon. As humans, we are not mere animals; we have embedded a commandment from old biblical times in our conscience.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Exodus. 20:12
Most decent societies should live by this rule; we should care for our old folks and families.
I have been taking simple actions to improve my lifestyle to enjoy the present while also keeping in mind that I will not always be in shape to provide for myself or my family. Here are the three main areas I am currently focusing on.
Physical Health
Back in 2020, during the Covid 19 lockdowns, I became way more sedentary at home, and in a blink of an eye, I went up from 175 pounds to 215 pounds. Now I am back at 175/177 pounds. The first 15 pounds took me a year, but then I lost all the last 25 pounds in no more than four weeks through dietary changes and good discipline working out.
Expecting my second child in less than a month, I was swamped with worries about my health. After all, I have always been reasonably fit and able to eat whatever I desire without significant repercussions on my weight. Now I was full of body pains and totally out of shape.
Things like eating good food for our body and being disciplined with physical activity in our daily routine should be standardized. Living a life of obesity, bad eating, and sedentary life should not be typical or encouraged.
As a society, we have grown such fragile skin against good criticism, but such criticism always pointed me back to the voice in my conscience that told me I could do better. Good friends not only pointed out my weight increase but added some ounces of joking sarcasm to let me know it was not "ok."
My biggest motivation? Not the criticism but being a good father and husband, so I would not become a burden to my family because of things under my current control.
Spiritual Health
One of the BIG questions for me developed around the character of God, particularly the Christian God. Seeing my grandmother in her slow but sure decline for so many years made me question what kind of God would allow his creation to suffer for so long.
I will not attempt to answer that specific question because I have come to understand that trying to understand God is one thing, but self-righteousness is another. My questioning revolved around the premise that I consider it unfair how God deals with such a condition of suffering, and that is fundamentally the wrong way of thinking.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55: 8-9
Free will comes with the price tag of living in a world corrupted by our own decisions. Oceans destroyed, nature full of human waste, societies with ungodly morals, and bodies with unhealthy habits. The price tag is death, the death of all good things; this is due to the fact that creation is being forcibly separated from the creator by our own doing.
Rather than being self-righteous and thinking I know better than God, I desire to learn more about God's character and how to live connected with his desire and will. In fact, I believe there is an overarching plan for the reunification of creation with the creator. This means the healing of creation and the restoration of the connection between God and Man. This is only possible through Jesus Christ, son of God, his death and resurrection.
He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. Ephesians 1:5-10
I realize this may sound like madness to some, but have you considered the alternatives? They are all well beyond the world of "normal" and more into the realm of "metaphysics" yet within reach of rational thought. So this is my ultimate goal for being spiritually healthy, to shorten the gap between God's will and mine so I can know him more and live accordingly.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11
Financial Health
Over the last year, almost to the date of this publication, I closed my first serious company; it has been a time to think about how I would use my time differently to make a living.
In regards to my income, I have almost tripled my output since closing that business and decreased the input by the same amount. This is not to say I am content with my current income or financial position but to point out a crude reality; some things are better to cut off from our lives in order to make room for things that will yield better results.
Our finances are a resource allocation game, where we allocate them to receive better gains. You can think of your resources as your personal assets, things you own or can build within you:
Depending of what resources I have and where I can allocate them will determine how I can generate some financial wealth. Given the limited nature of these resources, you need to make trade-offs. You have limited time each day, limited strength, and limited cash, and out of all of them, time is the one you need to pay extra attention to how you use it.
We are limited by time when it comes to how to generate more financial wealth. Most people rent their time to their employees; some price their time very low, and others really do well renting their time for a premium.
It is similar when it comes to your physical shape; you might be a model or an athlete, but in the end, you are renting your body on the same type of transaction. If your time or physical shape is the only source of your income, then you and I better do a good job using them because we will get older, and our bodies won't be as functional as they were in our younger years.
Working for yourself or an employer is equally risky if you are the only one that is capable of generating income. For example, if you are a craftsman or a doctor and you are the only one delivering a service, then the day you are sick or rendered handicapped, you will no longer be able to generate income anymore. This is why it is essential to think about allocating some of your resources into other buckets like cash, assets, and knowledge.
I am trying to use my resources to get into a financial position that will allow me to be capable of supporting my family and hopefully cover future unexpected circumstances.
To Life
Resurrection Sunday
This writing is part of a Resurrection Sunday reflection on the Christian faith; we believe that Christ rose from the dead, which is a sign of restoration and salvation. In Him, we have come from being trapped by the price tag of death due to our own actions to have access to eternal life and enjoy creation with Him at His return.
At the end of the last year (2022), my grandmother passed away to a better life. At the end of March, my baby boy was born. We have come as a family from seeing the dead to seeing life; no matter the circumstances, we are to trust God in all.
Trusting God
Part of my faith is actions; the other is trust in belonging to the family of God.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:1-3
I know I can not prepare for all, and even with all preparation, life is fragile, and I have little to no control, not even control over the air I breathe. So I decided to put all my trust in Jesus. Whatever I lack in physical, spiritual, or financial health, I trust He will provide for me what I lack in my own strength.
Until the next one,
Javier
