Struck By Mortality

I have been struck again tonight by the mortality of man. We are short, and if we aren't careful we can live for nothing.
One of the things I accomplished this past weekend was obtaining a library card for the Calgary public library system; I wasted no time and checked out several books right away, the one I finished tonight being among them. I was under the impression it was about five old college friends getting stranded on a tropical island on their way to do humanitarian work in some remote corner of the world - a nice, light story good for summer reading. But now I can't sleep.
In short, the book was metaphorical prose simulating hell. Now that I can imagine a little bit how horrible it would be to be stuck on that desert island, to be stuck eternally in hell, I cannot imagine. I don't want to.
I want my life to mean something.
In the book, all the characters had real-life visions or mirages of all their sinful moments and evil attributes; they stepped into various cave caverns and it played before them like a horribly real movie. The visions they had weren't even just of sins they had actually committed, it showed their motives, their spite, their jealousy, their greed, how it would look if you could see those crimes physically. Spiteful words spoken were like bloody slashes across the chest of the one they were speaking against, attitudes towards people and situations were played out in actuallity and became murderous scenarios.
We all have that in us. We do not have to hold a knife against someone physically in order to kill them; we can do that in our hearts, in our minds, in our attitudes, in our eyes. We all have malice, a sinful nature, and if we're not careful that can overtake us.
Life can be so empty if you can't see the real purpose of living. We can parade around in our plastic smiles and painted-on fame, but it can be useless if not for the glory of our Heavenly Father. Life can be so empty if you are living for yourself, for your own goals and your own achievements. I would trade all of that for the simple joy of living in step with my Father; I do not want to be stuck on that desert island.
After finishing the book tonight I opened my bible quickly before turning off my light with the intention of falling asleep. My eyes fell to the words 'you have been marked with a seal' or something to the effect of God, in Jesus Christ, marking me and setting me aside, sparing me from judgment. I am forever grateful for that promise.
But some are not so lucky. Some have not been marked; they are on the boat that will be shipwrecked on that tropical island where it is impossible to escape, the days never change, relief from constant thirst never comes and you can never die. Those are the people we, as a family of believers in Christ, need to worry about.
We are mortal. It is easy to forget that in our lives because we are surrounded by things that comfort us and situations that breed confidence in ourselves. It is only when these things melt away that we feel destructable, mortal...small.
When they are ripped away, we feel with such raw horror how little and meaningless the lives we have built for ourselves actually are.
Struck by mortality...
I need that every once in a while to re-evaluate my life and see how noble my goals actually are. But I welcome every opportunity that God sends a message in a bottle out to me here on earth, reminding me of what I am really here to accomplish, reminding me of Him.