As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Mark 10:17

Everyone’s talking about money. There is an election campaign going on. Everyone is talking about the economy. Everything seem to be reduced to money. Even in the above gospel story, the name given to this episode was based on the wealth of the young person. However, the focus is really on his question. How did it become about money? He wanted to know if there was something deeper and meaningful for his life. In other words, he wanted eternal life. He wasn’t asking about life after the death. Jewish people in Jesus’ time did not have an elaborate idea of heaven and hell as we do in the modern times. Eternal life was living in a way that his name would be remembered by the following generations. It is something that most of us can identify with. We share his desire. We want to leave our mark in this world. However, I would be afraid to ask Jesus such a question. His answers are not necessarily the ones that we want might to hear. If anything, this young man should be commended for his courage. However, asking the right question is not the greatest challenge. Living the answer is the toughest part. The end of this story is tragic one.

I had a hard time keeping focused this week. We are living in a turbulent and chaotic moment in history. The election results revealed that everything is unfolding quickly. We cannot pretend that the political and social environment do not affect us. When we came here about five years ago, everyone was optimistic. Today, a sense of uneasiness is felt in the streets, not to mention an underlying hostility and hatred that is going to erupt at any moment. Our children were the outsiders of the previous optimism. They are usually outsiders of society but, for some strange reasons, they are always the first to suffer when things fall apart. In this uncertain time, I wonder if I dare to ask the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Perhaps I would rephrase the question in line with my understanding of Jesus and ask, “How do I live out my eternal life?” The answer came to me in the most unusual way. It came through the testimony of a holocaust survivor.

I have been fortunate to have several unusual but special encounters with holocaust survivors. They seem to appear like angels in significant moments in my life. Once I was on what was supposed to be a ten minute bus ride which ended up to be a two hour long encounter with a elderly Jewish lady from Holland who sat next to me. She wanted to give me something precious from her life and I could not refuse. This time my encounter was not personal but it was through a video clip. I watched an interview of a holocaust victim who was born in Brazil. His family made the mistake of returning to their paternal home for a short visit just as Hitler rose to power. It ended tragically for the whole family and this elderly man spent his late teenage years in the infamous concentration camp of Auschwitch. He remembered clearly meeting met the wretched Josef Mengele twice in this camp. The most amazing thing about this ninety year old survivor was that he had the capability to connect spiritually with me even though there was an immense medium separating us. He shared with his soul and those who listened were transformed eternally.

His testimony was simple. He shared his day to day life in the camp and how he survived. The first thing he learned to give up was his family. He gave up the idea of ever seeing them again or the idea of having a family in the future. Then little by little everything he thought that was necessary for life was taken away from him. The most amazing thing he said was that he still felt alive and never thought about giving up. He shared that the last thing that was taken away from him was his sense of hygiene. His body was infested with bugs and other nasty creatures. His clothes were soiled with human waste. He said that it did not bother him anymore. All he wanted to do was to be with his friends and survive. He wasn’t sure if there was a light at the end of the tunnel. He just lived on a daily basis. As he was describing his state, it made me realize that many of the homeless live like he did in the concentration camp. I remember many times that I would try to avoid some of the adults because of the stench that comes from their soiled clothes. I often wondered how they could live like this. Here this man was sharing how he survived in this state for years and eventually he came to accept it. His life was stripped down to mere basics. His enemies tried to dehumanize him but somehow he became more human. He himself admitted that he was amazed how we as humans are able to adapt and still live. He made a lifelong friend there who helped him to push on through. This friend just passed away three years ago. When he was emancipated from the camp, all he wanted do was to eat whenever he wanted and walk wherever he wanted to go. He added that years later, he forgot about this simplicity and started running after acquiring useless stuff. Now, he stopped accumulating things but just enjoys being alive and free. He wants to share the joy of life in its simplicity to everyone. He is living his eternal life now.

When he was asked if he would change anything in his past, he pondered the question for a while and said, “It is part of who I am and I won’t know how to live now without this experience.”

The thing is that this man had so much life that it immediately connected those who were willing to listen. He paid a high price for it. He lost home, parents and even himself in the process. He was stripped down to bare humanity. Now he is full of life. This was something that the young man in the gospel yearned for so much but he walked away because the price was too high. His wealth represented his security. We can identify with him. We like to feel secure. We don’t like things that we believe are necessary to us to be taken away from us. At the same time, we want to impact the lives of people in this world for the better. We want to do this because it is something our souls yearn to do. It is who we are. We are made to be reflection of God’s image. However, there are many things which hold us back. Sometimes they need to be taken away from us to help us discover our true selves. The journey to self-discovery is not easy or pleasant. Jesus took this journey and He fulfilled His calling on the Cross. He was stripped of everything but He gained everything at the same time. The question is there for us to ask. Do we have the courage to live out the answer? I am not sure if I do but perhaps, His grace will give me the strength. I saw His grace being manifested in the face of the elderly man who lived in inhumane conditions for years and yet has gained everything he needs to emanate eternal life.

I don’t think that I have nothing more to add here. I just need to contemplate before asking the tough question. To be honest, I am afraid of the answer.