Should we envy martyrs?

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Qoeleth

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The Book of Job tells us that the life of man is a trial. Lived experience confirms that position, for me, possibly also for many (most) others.

One reaches a stage when the temptations of the world hold no more attractions- when the soul is longing to return to God, or to nothingness. Yet, the soul still cleaves to the flesh, as if by some primal instinct, or some conditioned social obligation.

Yet, the martyrs of ancient times had the chance to be admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven by a decisive act of resolution. Today, many Christians are left languishing. Should we envy that martyrs of ancient times, who receive such an opportunity to express their love for God?

Or is it a greater martyrdom to live out one’s appointed sentence in this earthly prison? Yet, not everyone is strong enough to be a saint, or even a useful servant…

So, life goes on- but whom does it help to do so? Not God, surely…What can our dust, our vain toils, our song of failure and error, profit the Divinity? Surely the soul that longs to return to God has already reached the end of its journey, has learnt its lessons, and can go…
 
We are given our lives by God … we exist each day by the grace of God … we should be thankful to God for what He gives to us each day … whether it be struggle or happiness … all is given by God … struggle is given so that we can carry a cross on this earth in preparation for the beautiful eternity that God has prepared for us … of course we can pray to God when those struggles seem too much for us to handle … sometimes He deems it appropriate to answer those prayers … other times He feels that we need to live the course He has chosen for us … but all is given by God … and we should be thankful for each and every day that He chooses for us to live on this earth … and try to live those days loving God and showing our appreciation for the gifts He has given to us.

My apologies if that came off preachy … didn’t mean it to be that way … what I said was more geared towards how I want myself to live and how I want to look at the day to day struggles that happen.
 
Some of those martyrs suffered terrible deaths. They suffered back then, and they suffer today.
 
None who are still breathing have yet reached the end of the journey. Keep moving!
 
Well, um…I’d rather not find out if it’s something worth envying. Besides, isn’t envy one of the sins we’re supposed to avoid?
 
We cannot know the Will of God when it comes to the time or kind of death we shall have.

We can, however, rejoice if we are about to be martyred out of love and obedience to Our Lord.
 
There are actually hundreds of thousands more Christian martyrs These days than there were in Ancient times.
I don’t envy being tortured and then killed in a horrible way. I feel bad that they had to suffer like this but hearing of their strength gives me encouragement through tough times.

We can all be Saints through the lives God has given us as long as we follow his way.
 
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