One Life, One World, Too Many Problems: By Diran Avagyan

When I stop at a red light, I often observe the drivers next to me. The driver of a white Tacoma on my left is a landscaper, I can tell. He is using the brief stop to finish his breakfast burrito from a white Styrofoam box. He must have a busy schedule ahead of him. On my right, the driver of a burgundy Camry is sipping his coffee from McDonald’s, careful not to spill it on his white dress shirt. He is deep in thought, one can see.

Our gaze, facial expressions, behaviors, and actions tell a lot about what we are going through at any given moment. And we are all going through something. Too many problems, issues, and traumas, personal, professional, and even generational.

One may wonder how this beautiful world is holding up under so many problems. One life, one world, too many problems.

Our worries are not just about the future or the fear of the unknown. Our problems are also rooted in things that have hurt us in the past and continue to hurt us today, wounds that have scarred us or continue to bleed.

It is true that suffering can become unbearable. We all have our breaking points, no matter how strong we pretend to be. We may erupt at some point, with consequences that can be devastating for us and for others. The recent stabbing on a Flydubai flight to Israel is an example of an eruption that could have cost the lives of many innocent people, had it not been for the heroism of passengers and crew.

Our suffering, no matter how painful, can never justify inflicting suffering on others. In our hopelessness, when things seem impossible, we must be reminded that this one life, in this one and only world, is too precious to destroy, for ourselves or for others, no matter the baggage of problems we carry. For, as Ecclesiastes says, “I know that nothing is better than to rejoice, and to do good in life, and also eat and drink and enjoy the good of our labor—it is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:12–13).

Perhaps we need to steady ourselves and not be preoccupied with problems we cannot solve. Maybe this is the wisdom we need when life becomes overwhelming: to recognize our limitations, cherish the gift of life, do the best we can within our reach, and surrender the rest to God.