15357355_sPeople die every day. Including friends. But when you read about the death of a friend, your first reaction is usually one of disbelief. Last Friday I read a poem posted on Facebook that looked like a eulogy for a friend. If I had been an objective reader I wouldn’t have doubted that it was a eulogy. But the poem was about a friend. And I didn’t want this friend to be dead and so I doubted if it was a eulogy. And so I messaged the friend who had written the poem. “Has something happened to Raja?” Answer: “Yes, he died this morning in London, where he was undergoing open-heart surgery…”

I first met Raja Segran at a church camp in 2006. But we had known about each other for a long time. Common friends helped us keep track of each other’s journeys. And so when we first met it felt very much like two old friends meeting up again. Raja came from Alor Setar and had risen to serve in various senior positions in SIA (Singapore Airlines). But when God directed him into church-based ministry he obeyed and served on staff with a key church in Singapore. And then the Lord moved him back to market place work and again he obeyed. He was stationed in Europe. Here was a man of integrity who knew he was a servant of the Almighty and lived his life in obedience.

After we had met up that first time in 2006, we met up a few more times. He provided much needed wisdom for some decisions I was facing. I will always remember him as a kind and wise man. (And the only one I know who had read the Lord of the Rings more times than me. He had read it eleven times. I have only read it eight times.) You felt stronger and braver because you had a friend like this in your life. When he left for Europe, I told him that I would miss him and looked forward to when we would meet up again. But unless the Lord knows something I don’t, it seems that I will have to wait a bit longer before I see Raja again. Goodbye, again, Raja. I continue to miss you.

It seems that most of us have little control over how and when we die. Over the weekend I read about another death. Here is a report from the Jan 22nd edition of Star Online.

KUANTAN: A former drug addict sacrificed himself by jumping into the sea to save another man from his church group who was swept away by high tide during an outing at the popular Teluk Chempedak beach here.

The body of Hoh Kun Fatt, 22, from Kampung Baru Ampang, Selangor, was found at 5.11am yesterday near the Hyatt Regency Resort here, about 900m from where he was last seen. Family and church members mourned the death of Hoh, whose last words were: “Save the others!”

Hoh had jumped in to save Pastor Loh Chee Kuang, 38, in the Thursday tragedy. Eyewitness Pastor Chow Kok Min, 42, said Hoh had managed to save himself and hung on to a rock when he spotted Loh submerging – and he jumped right back into the water. Other group members from Charis Youth Centre, Broga, then dived in and managed to pull Loh to safety, said Chow at the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan mortuary. Hoh was nowhere to be seen as the waves continued to hit the shore.

(“Former drug addict gives his life to save pastor from drowning,” By Simon Khoo and Isabelle Lai)

When Hoh Kun Fatt woke up on the morning of Jan 19th, I doubt that he knew that it was going to be the day that he was going to die. Indeed it doesn’t seem to make any sense that the Lord would let Hoh die when he had his life ahead of him. In the same report, Hoh’s sister was quoted as saying:

Hoh’s sister, Mei Kin, 30, held back tears as she recounted how her deceased brother changed for the better after joining the church. “It’s heartbreaking to see him gone, especially just when he got his life back on track. We are so proud of him,” she said.

God knows when we come into this world and when we will leave.

Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll. (Psalm 139:16 NET)

But the Almighty doesn’t usually give out that information. Or His reasons. Instead He exhorts us to live wisely.

So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely. (Psalm 90:12 NET)

We may not know when or how we will die. But we can choose how to live. We can choose to live wisely. That may mean a life of faithful service. Or a moment of sacrificial bravery. I did not know Hoh Kun Fatt. Still, the circumstances of his death moved me deeply. In a moment of crisis he showed that Christ dwelt in him. I knew Raja Segran. This is a personal loss and I will miss him. There is suddenly this vacuum in my life. I am profoundly grateful to have come to know him. His life inspires me.

As I start a new year, the 56th year of my life, I am grateful for the lesson that comes from these two deaths. We may not know how and when we will die. But we can choose how we will live. God, help me to live this year wisely.