September 12 will be a milestone for me. It marks my sixth month of quarantine. That’s half a year spent at home, mostly in a room where I work and sleep. Never have I spent so much time continuously at home in my entire life as far as I can recall. This experience is replicated countless times in our country as the pandemic continues to grip us.
If someone told me before the pandemic that the above would happen to me, I would surely find it incredible. I would likely wonder what I would do with so much time in my hands. Well, now I know. Someone once said that the work expands according to the time available. That is partly true. But at the same time, the extra time allowed me to venture into new things. Looking back, I have many things to be thankful for.
The future is still uncertain and the quarantine may last for months on end. However, we know that once a vaccine is developed, the isolation will end. That hope enables us to persevere no matter the difficulty we now face.
While 180 days of confinement may appear long, it is nothing compared to eternity. Deep inside, we know that humans are destined for something more. Every person has a notion of life after death. The wise man of the Old Testament says that “he [God] has put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). No wonder there is a yearning in every person to know what happens next. We try to predict the future-- scientists create scenarios, business leaders plan, and we prepare for the “rainy days”. We know that there is more to life than just living and dying.
While He was on earth, Jesus spoke profusely about living for eternity, either in bliss or in anguish (e.g. Matthew 25: 31-46). What we do in this life will have a bearing on where we will spend eternity. If this is the case, I am convinced that our paramount concern is to make sure that we are ready to face what lies beyond the grave. May this time of quarantine reminds us that eternity is just on the horizon. It is coming sooner than we think.
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