YOLO

YOLO…I heard this expression on a TV game show recently and it peaked my interest. The woman contestant who spoke the acronym assumed that the audience and the host understood what it meant. To my surprise the audience did, as did the host! In fact, he encouraged the contestant by repeating the full phrase once she made the decision to continue in the game before her: “You only live once!”

Never having heard the expression before, I thought about it long after I had turned off the TV.  From the perspective of the contestant, she felt she had nothing to lose and made her choice to continue with the challenge of winning. After all, in her thinking, she only had one life to live and why not take a chance. And as the game would have it, the woman made the right choice and won a car!

A few days later I had the occasion to read words on a sign, you know, those thought-provoking words that are attractively scripted on a piece of wood. I couldn’t help thinking that in some way the words were an extension of YOLO.

Life is too ironic to fully understand.
It takes SADNESS to know what HAPPINESS is.
NOISE to appreciate SILENCE and ABSENCE to value PRESENCE.

Although I’m not sure I’d use the word ironic to describe life, there is no question that one does go through life and experience sadness when the unexpected happens. But life also provides joy and happiness. We tend to tolerate noise and distractions, but we also welcome silence and moments of solitude to refresh our spirits. And there is no question that we experience the absence of loved ones when distance makes their presence impossible. But we value the moments when their presence is part of our life.  Sadness/Happiness. Noise/Silence. Absence/Presence. They are all part of the life we only live once.

Many years ago, when we were new parents, we encouraged guests in our home to sign our Guest Book. Being a pastor who loved the Lord, my Uncle Vic wrote: Only one life ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last. [Part of a poem written by Charles Thomas Studd.] Although the quote on the wooden plaque is thought-provoking, the quote from C. T. Studd’s poem puts a different slant on life if one is a follower of Christ. My uncle wanted so much for me to understand the importance of living a life that pleased and honoured Christ.

And one last thought on the theme of life. Corrie ten Boom used to say, “When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.” For me, that’s where trusting my life and the lives of my family come into play. The world can get dark, life can be difficult, but the Engineer of my life is the Sovereign God who is in total control of my life…the one that I only get to live once.

“You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Psalm 16:11

“I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20