Life Is Precious

Two weeks ago, on a Monday, I discovered my alma mater was closing. This last Monday night, a coworker and fellow teacher lost his battle to cancer and passed away. He was a retired engineer who decided to teach in South Central Los Angeles at a STEM school. He lived each day to its fullest. He taught physics and astronomy. He was a scientist and a Christian, which for some, is a walking oxymoron. He was a gentle man. He is a reminder that we must realize that every life is precious and stop fighting with each other and begin living each day to make a difference in the world. Retired, to our beloved teacher, Brian Woods, didn’t mean sitting down and doing nothing. It meant living life and doing for others until life is over. He never stopped until he took his last breath.

As I look at our world today, I wish more of us could be like him. I wish more people would stop talking and begin working. The petty arguments of which generation is better, reminds me that we have not learned or grown from our past. We must move forward. We must begin to work to make a difference in the world. When a retired teacher takes time on his weekends to take small groups of students to clean a natural preserve in the middle of an urban community, we can stop complaining of not having time or being too tired. We must live each day to its fullest because life is precious.

Life is too precious to argue which generation is better. Life is too precious to debate politics on social media in which no one is listening. Life is precious, so we need to take the time to encourage and empower others and not discourage others. It’s time that we begin to serve others and work together to make the world a better place. we cannot rely on government officials, or any other leaders. It all depends on us as individuals.

People will fail. People will let us down, but it is people that can build us up. It’s people that can guide us to succeed. We must lean on each other in order to make the world a better place. As I shared last week, it’s the memories of people from my alma mater that makes that place special. It is people that teaches students. It’s people that cleans our neighborhoods. It’s ordinary people doing extraordinary things because when we do anything that is extra from our agenda, it is beyond ordinary.

We all must begin to live extraordinary lives. Life is short. Life is precious. May we take the time to make the most of each and every day. May we serve others, as we see that each and every life is precious. It’s how Brian Woods saw the world. He saw each and every life as precious and as a potential to make a difference in this world.