Life is a Terminal Condition

On Oprah yesterday, (I'm always mentioning her, aren't I? You would think that I love Oprah, that I'm in her fan club right at the top of the list. Not so much, but I do like the topics on her show) people who were diagnosed with various illnesses were telling their stories.
Then, I heard of Haregewoin Teferra's death.
As I thought about her life, and her absolutely amazing love, chalk full of self-sacrifice, going where no one wanted to go, doing what no one wanted to do, giving up everything of her own down to the bed she slept on at night for the orphaned children of her country, both the sick and the healthy, I was quickly reminded, jolted.
Life is a terminal condition. For every single one of us it is.
A teenage girl died yesterday in Colorado Springs, while pumping gas at a 7-11.
We don't ever know, do we? When our days and hours, our breaths will come to an end.

James 4:14-16
Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

I'm asking myself, what is it that will matter when I'm gone?
What can I leave that will not be washed away, quickly forgotten?
My indulgences, my shoes in my closet, the vacations I took, the tv programs I watched that I just had to see, the dinners out and the recreation I engaged in, none of it will mean a thing.
It is at best temporary pleasure that lasts a moment, refreshes for a time......then soon leaves me wanting for more, the next new, fun, exciting experience.

Serving God, serving others, loving people and giving myself to them. That is all I can think of that will be of any permanent consequence when my terminal condition called life on this earth is over.
I've only got one chance here to make a difference.
Yes, there is risk, there is cost. Those are both present even in the good things I savor.
There is true satisfaction in giving that can not compare to gaining one more tangible item, one more minute of relaxation or comfort for myself. My luxury seeking is insatiable, the desire unending. If it weren't a single vacation would be enough for a lifetime. One season of the Bachelor would satisfy forever and ever.
Helping someone else, changing a life or two, or as many as I can, that is what will ultimately leave a legacy of good long after my name is forgotten.
I need reminders like this from time to time and I'm thankful for them.
I will try not to forget Haregewoin Teferra.