When I wrote yesterday that I did not know why little children have to die, I didn’t know that the thought would come back to me in the form of a memory of a long past event I had almost forgotten. The memory came when I was told that an old woman called Easter was buried yesterday at her home which is located near my upcountry home. That is when I remembered the day Easter saved my older sister from certain death in 1982.

At that time, my older sister was 12 years old. That morning, she left home by herself and decided to walk by a nearby river. Being epileptic, she got a seizure and fell unconscious inside the river. Easter happened to be working in a nearby field and rushed towards my sister when she realized what had happened. Fortunately, she was quick enough to fish her from the water before she drowned. My sister was unconscious for a long time, and at the hospital, I remember being very scared especially when my exasperated mother wondering loudly if she was going to live. She finally gained consciousness late in the evening and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

In one day, how does God decide who lives and who doesn’t. Picture an unconscious girl falling into a river in an epileptic fit and being pulled out before she could drown. Picture a perfectly healthy boy falling inside a hole and drowning before anyone can save him. How does God decide?

My sister has been epileptic since we were little children, and has survived many catastrophes that would easily befall a person with her condition. One of the secret worries that my parents have always had is about her well being when they are no longer available to look out for her. Would she get someone to marry her? Would she be capable of having children of her own? Well, she is not married yet, but has a beautiful 4 year old daughter of her own. God has continuously showered her with grace beyond anything we could ever have imagined.

She is now the only sister I have left after the older one passed away ten years ago, after a very short period of illness. It was very unbelievable especially since she was doing a good job as a nurse, had settled into marriage with a supportive husband, and already had a young son. I remember that on the day that she died, my mother wailed bitterly and questioned God, asking him why my sister had to die.

As human beings, we seem to think that we know who has a right to live and who deserves to die. For example, when a criminal takes the life of an innocent person, we condemn the bad person to die for killing the good person. When countries quarrel, the citizens of one country are armed and ordered to kill the citizens of another country. People even kill others because they disagree with their idea of what God should be or should not be. But God does not seem to follow our logic in deciding who dies and who lives.

Life is God’s to take, for He is the giver of life. We do not know the reason why He has kept us alive and taken so many others before us. That we are alive today, with all our imperfections is a mystery that we should always marvel about. There is a purpose to each and every person’s life. Let us not take our lives for granted. Let us not take other people’s lives for granted.