On Earth We Are Briefly Happy 🌸

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“You know, of late I’ve been thinking that there is really nothing like a happy ending… there is only a happy journey. This is why we have to be intentional about living each day the best we can, because that perfect time people are waiting for might never come. We might not live that long, or we might just never attain some things we attach our happiness to.” — Sarah Jombai, my friend.

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Sometime in March, I picked up my phone and called a friend. As he picked up, I asked, “Do you know what bothers me the most about Job’s story?” He asked what, and I replied, “That everything he had could be replaced.” He sighed, and somehow he knew I understood. Everything Job had worked for all his life was destroyed during a trying period, and everything was replaced in a couple of years. It just made me think: How could such a loss be so easily replaced? It makes everything seem disgustingly pointless and worthless. I know this may not make sense, but walk with me.

From the time we become conscious of what’s right and wrong, we start to paint an idea of what we want from life. For everyone, success is different. For some people, success is love to come home to every day. For some, success is a mansion and a flashy car. For others, success is a beautiful community. Regardless of what success means to us, we start to work towards it. Every decision we make is with the thought of the future looming over us; we work towards a happy ending. But recently, I have decided that a happy ending does not really exist in real life. The only reason they exist in movies is because movies end when there is a happy ending. In reality, after happy endings, life continues. If we live long enough, we see prayers answered either turn into new prayer requests or give room for new prayer points. It’s like we can’t catch a break.

We go from one waiting period to another, and sometimes at the end of each waiting period, there is no strength for joy or hope, just enough for relief. On earth, we are briefly happy, and maybe the whole point of this is to teach us that nothing here is worth everything. Maybe the whole point of waiting periods is to disconnect us from whatever hill we are worshipping at that time.

I have thought long and hard about it, and that’s the only explanation I could come up with. If you say waiting periods are to strengthen us, why is it that by the time the next waiting period comes, we have somehow forgotten how to wait? Whenever it seems like you have gotten a hang of the whole thing, life happens in the most shattering way. Why? Why do we all, at some point, suffer such deep grief or hurt that shifts the ground under our feet? Hurt that makes those who believe doubt everything, and makes those who hope suddenly forget how to. Why is it that despite everything, we don’t truly heal from certain things, even if we tell everyone that we have?

If you say waiting periods are for a purpose, why does that purpose sometimes cost our sanity? Why is purpose so… somehow, and why is it that nothing ever prepares us? I tell you, the only thing that makes sense is that waiting periods are a way to disconnect us from everything we exalt highly. A little but not-so-gentle reminder that things, people, and experiences come and go, and nothing is ever permanent. And since nothing is permanent, nothing is truly worth everything.

So, what to do? Well, taking clues from one of the books the wisest man to ever live wrote, Ecclesiastes, we are here only for a short while. In the end, which no one knows when it will be, we will all die. The best we can do is to find joy in the now and the simple pleasures of life — eating, drinking, and finding satisfaction in one’s work. The best we can do is to make the most of our days. When things don’t work out, don’t waste precious time seeking closure; it may never come. If it does come, let it meet you on the way. Move.

Don’t just up and go; learn the art of mourning your losses, even the seemingly inconsequential ones. As you learn to mourn, learn to rejoice. Learn to love yourself and the people you value. If everyone dies and we don’t know when, does that not place urgency on loving the people who make life at least bearable? Love with urgency. Make that call today. When you hug goodbye, hold on a bit longer. Hold on a bit longer for goodness’ sake. We are in too much hurry for people who have no idea where we are going. Listen to that tale over and over from your favourite person until you can’t tell what the original story is again.

Sigh. Look, life sucks, okay? But in our brief moments of happiness, can we be truly happy, forgetting everything else and just being present? Can we make it a habit to always capture and freeze memories through videos, pictures, and whatever means necessary? Can we somehow learn to amplify our good days and esteem them more highly than our bad days? Above all, while we are at it, let’s prioritize having a relationship with the One who knows all the answers we don’t.

One day, someone asked me why I believe. I can go on and give 1001 reasons emotionally, theologically, etc. One of my favorite reasons is that I have questions I need answers to, and if I choose not to believe, then who do I hope to someday quiz? Who? I believe because I have unanswered questions.