A Reason to Live

By Liz Koh

Life. Seasons. They have much in common.

Spring’s fresh bloom; serendipities. 

Summer’s golden sunshine; adventures. 

Autumn’s monotonous shades; the mundane. 

Winter’s cold frost; tribulations.

Through the seasons, we all hold onto dreams that anchor us to a purpose, keeping our feet grounded and going. Though our hands may bleed, we grasp tightly onto glass shards of hope…hoping, longing, and aspiring for more. For something. For someone. For a miracle, a stroke of luck, a quiver of a fairy’s wand. No matter how scornful the gales of life whip our backs with trials, we thrive in search of that more. No matter how waking up each morning likens to dragging feet on broken porcelain, we persevere in expectation for that more.

All for more.

Spraying the rainbow’s brilliance on our faces as light casts through it, that shard of hope grants us ecstasy in reality not unlike magic. Yet… it is also a razor knife that we willingly clasp in our palm – a double edged sword in every sense of the word. But when light fails to shine and the brilliance of hope extinguishes into ash, will holding onto hope still be worth the searing ache of its blade lodged in your flesh?

When it seems more effective as a slitter than a piece of sunshine, will that mirage of more still keep you going?

What then will be your reason to live?

What is your reason for living?

For me, it is the petrichor of a morning shower after the long drought. It is in the falling petals of the Tabebuia rosea trees at the doorstep of my home that kiss my skin in greeting. It is in the excitement of blank pages pleading to burst with ideas. It is in the warm glow of a soul I have yet to bless. It is to feel the earth on my skin as I skip in meadows of flowers with my two feet, perhaps in the future together with another’s pair, or even as a family with many little pairs. It is in knowledge that my purpose to spread His love has not been completed. To weave my life into a testimony of my Saviour’s goodness… that however small, to act as a tiny puzzle piece in the grand vision of God’s Kingdom. For that more.

This is my reason to live. 

What is yours?