My Life line by Lovis Kwasi Armah

“Life is vanity and meaningless! And someone has surely played an evil and stupid joke on my by placing me in this world,” thought the man as he tightened the rope. Despite the horror with which he saw the world, he felt something terribly wrong with three groups of people: those that were ignorant that life is an evil and an absurdity; people with dull imagination that enables them to forget the things that gave Buddha no peace -- the inevitability of sickness, old age, and death, which today or tomorrow will destroy all ones hard work and pleasures; and the most pitiful of all being those people who know that life is meaningless, but not having the strength to act rationally -- to end the deception quickly and kill themselves.

The man was well educated, rich and famous and having understood the stupidity of the joke that has been played on him, and understanding that there is nothing that will profit man for all his labor under the sun, and that it is best of all not to exist, He choose to end this stupid joke by suicide. No sweetness of honey could be sweet to him when he could see sickness, old age, and death as a certainty if not near. Scientific and philosophical search for the question, “why should he live, that is to say, what real, permanent result will come out of his illusory transitory life -- what meaning has his finite existence in this infinite world?” has been “Nothing.” And therefore why should he continue to live for nothing? He swung unto the stem of the tree he stood under so that he could tie one end of the rope firmly unto a branch and another to his neck.

At the top of the tree where he got a firm branch that could serve his purpose, he saw some simple laboring folk. Unlike him schooled in rational knowledge, these poor folks depended on faith, he had observed they accept illness and sorrow without any perplexity or opposition, and with a quiet and firm conviction that all is good. He, much educated and therefore wiser has lesser understanding of the meaning of life, and see some evil irony in the fact that people suffer and die, but these folk live and suffer, and they approach death and suffering with tranquility and in most cases Gladly. He wondered what on earth made these people accept illness and sorrow without any perplexity or opposition, and with a quiet and firm conviction that all is good. Such people, lacked all that is supposed to be the only good of life and yet experiencing the greatest Happiness. An unfamiliar voice told him that perhaps before ending it all, he should get closer to these poor folks and inquire the meaning which they attribute life.

“Faith is what makes it possible to live. Every man has come into this world by the will of God. And God has so made man that every man can destroy his life or save it. The aim of man in life is to save his soul, and to save his soul he must live "godly" and to live "godly" he must renounce all the deceitful pleasures of life, must labor, humble himself, suffer, and be merciful,” He learned. He inhaled deeply and reasoned, if he exist, there must be some cause for it, and a cause of causes. And that first cause of all is what men have called "God”. He then admitted that it was his Life which has been evil and an absurdity, not the created human life in general. And that only a Life without hope beyond the grave is truly vanity.

At this the man felt for the first that he could live. He could live knowing that this corruptible shall have put on in-corruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death, sickness and old age is swallowed up in victory.” This is my life line and without which I cannot live.

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Written by Lovis Kwasi Armah (MotX Ghana)
Author of The Limit of Human Goodness and The Wisest Man From the East.

Story is based on "A Confession" by Leo Tolstoy(1879)
Photo Credit: brentthewalrus