Death for love

A COMPANY OUTING AT A BEACH RESORT MANY SUMMERS ago led to a tragedy.

A huge wave engulfed two of Froilan's co-workers/friends swimming near the shore. Seeing the two helplessly bobbing up and down the waves with arms flailing, Froilan almost instinctively jumped to the rescue.

It was a tense moment with one huge wave after another making rescue look impossible. Through what seemed to be the last big wave, the sea regurgitated the two who landed flat on the beach. They were still alive, though exhausted. Froilan was nowhere to be found. The desperate search ended when a week later his decomposing body was found near an island on the opposite side of the resort. We wonder: If Froilan knew that he would die trying to save his friends, would he still go ahead? Or was he confident that he could bring them back to safety? So--did Froilan lay down his life for his friends? We may have heard of many instances when a person loses his life apparently in exchange for others, and is in time hailed as a hero.

Mankind's history is adorned by acts of heroism--whether widely acknowledged or known only to a few villagers, whether done by Christians or people of other faiths--but would these acts be the same as "laying one's life for one's friends"? When a man unwillingly engages in combat as a soldier, and happens to die "saving his country", does his death earn as much merit as when he willingly goes to war?

These are hard questions to answer for only God knows what is in our hearts. A person "who lays his life for his friends" may know of his intentions, others sings his praises based on appearances, but God alone can tell how selfless the person's sacrifice has been. What matters for us left to slug it out with the living is: that we strive to reach a point of Christ-like loving that urges us to be kind to others without satisfying our egos in return. This is also death--to the self.