The ninety minutes of life

THE book of James reminds me of a sport I know. It is the sport I used to watch and sometimes play in my teenage years. Yes you got it. The sport is soccer.
The African Cup of Nations showcase started on Sunday. Unfortunately, Togo will not be part of it following the shooting mishap.
Soccer is played for 90 minutes, regulation time. Added time is for when the teams can not be separated in normal time. After regulation, there will be a result that can bring satisfaction or indifference, celebration or anger, joy or dismay, jubilation or melancholy.
As the match progresses those trailing by a goal to nil will want the ref to add 10 more minutes so they can have a chance to equalise and try to wrap it up in added time. The one goal leaders want the ref to blow the whistle even before time so it can be early celebration time.
The players too have their feelings. On one side some are thinking, “if only the ref could blow the whistle so I can rest, my feet can carry me no more.” Others are thinking, “I feel so good I can be running another 90 minutes.”
Whether the ref will add 10 more minutes of injury time or not, the match will come to an end anyway. Many things in life are time bound. The day, the week, the month are all time bound. Only a few days ago we witnessed the end of yet another year, that too is time bound.
I have chosen soccer as my life example because I am familiar with it. No matter how entertaining or boring the match can be, after 90 minutes plus added time, it will come to an end and there will be a result which makes the participants and the observers celebrate or commiserate depending on which side they belong to.
 In life, as in soccer, there are observers who will respond differently to the same result after the end of life’s 90 minutes. The observers in life’s 90 minutes are many. They all will react differently to the end of your 90 minutes of life.
The player of life, enjoying a prosperous lifestyle would definitely clamour for more time and could be saying, “You know what, I am enjoying the play in my life so much I need added time.” But for someone struggling to make ends meet either due to poor health or poverty could be saying “I am so tired I wish I could take a break from this miserable and torturous life.” The observers’ reactions could be shaped and influenced by bread and butter issues. School fees to be paid, rent, food and drink are everyday concerns that have a bearing on the observer’s reaction.
They could want you to lo se or they want added time so you can score a last minute equaliser and maybe, just maybe a winning goal. See the children through school, pay off the mortgage. If you are leading they want the ref to blow the whistle, so they can celebrate.
The Christian faith has classified the eternal journey of human beings as survived in three phases: the pre-mortal stage we are told is the period prior to birth. We were spirit children of our Heavenly Father; the mortal or form stage when we obtain a physical body, spiritual growth and family. The third phase is that we continue to live after death. The form stage of life is the second act of a three-act play. We lived before birth and we continue to live after death.
Although the physical life is short, it is a very important portal through which we pass. It sets the compass for the path into eternity from a spiritual perspective.
The scriptures tell us that there are three major purposes for our creation and the mortal experience. The first is to obtain a physical body. The second is to grow spiritually by keeping the Lord’s commandments. The third is to initiate an eternal life. Thus the physical body helps us attain spiritual growth, for the grand prize of immortality.
From birth to adulthood the body grows in strength and capability. For most people physical development peaks between 20 and 40 years of age, and then a long, slow period of deterioration follows. As we may all know, what matters is whether we neglect our physical health or take care of and attend to the needs of the body, pretty much like in soccer. The body is so important in the Lord’s plan that he has given us commandments.
While it is human to worry about the bread and butter issues, it is also important to consider the spiritual trajectory that spiritual development may take. The period from birth to adulthood can be a time of rapid growth.
Spiritual development differs from the growth pattern of the physical body. It is not time dependent. As long as one is obedient to the eternal principles, the path has an upward slope. The height and steepness of the path are determined by the degree to which one adheres to God’s laws. It is possible to move from one path to another. All of us desire to be on the road leading to the celestial kingdom and eternal life.
However, all of us experience challenges along the way, like we experience setbacks in a soccer match. These challenges are all part of life. Of course it would be nice to see life stretch endlessly in front of us with no death in sight, but that is not reality.
We all know that our soccer match will come to an end, and celebration or commiseration will follow. If the last minutes of your soccer match were a battle with cancer, and the final whistle is blown, let us celebrate life. If your last minutes were a battle with old age and the whistle of your 90 minutes is blown, celebrate life. It is possible to accept that life can be celebrated, for after all what is life? It is a time bound existence like a soccer match played in 90 minutes. The only difference though is that life’s 90 minutes can be 10 years, 40 years or even 100 years.
However, your 90 minutes is going to come, we wish that all those around you will not commiserate but celebrate for life is good.
– Philip Mataranyika is the CEO of Nyaradzo Funeral Assurance Comp-any.
He can be contacted on: mavmat67@hotmail.com