Tag: fleeting

As a Vapor Vanishes: Reflecting on the Brevity of Life

The tragedy of Fauja Singh’s passing should stir us, not just with grief, but with resolve. Not everyone will run marathons. But all of us are race runners.

Brent Pollard

“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (James 4.14)

At 114, Fauja Singh had outrun time itself—until time caught up with him on a quiet village road.

The world mourned the tragic death of Fauja Singh, the legendary marathon runner from Punjab, India. At 114 years old, he was hit and killed by a vehicle while walking in his village. Known as the “Turbaned Tornado,” he started running in his late 80s, broke age-related barriers, and inspired people worldwide. His sudden and heartbreaking passing reminds us painfully that life is uncertain. (Singh, 2025)

Even the most lively and resolute spirit cannot escape the limited nature of time.

Scripture speaks with sobering clarity about the fragility of life. “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away” (Psalm 90.10). This psalm of Moses captures both time’s swift passage and life’s inevitable end. Even for someone like Fauja Singh, who surpassed expectations by living over 110 years, the outcome remains the same. “…it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9.27).

Life’s Fleeting Nature

King David wrote, “Man is like a mere breath; his days are like a passing shadow.” (Psalm 144.4). Job adds, “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain” (Job 14.1–2). These are not ornamental flourishes for funerals; they are divine truths designed to ground the living.

Even in Isaiah’s reflective sorrow, we read, “Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me; as a weaver I rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.” (Isaiah 38.12). Scripture layers these images deliberately—vapor that dissipates, flowers that wither, shadows that fade. Each metaphor reinforces the same sobering truth: nothing in this life endures.

The Illusion of Control

The book of James highlights our assumption. We often speak confidently about “tomorrow,” make arrangements for profit and travel, and forget that we have no control over even a single heartbeat. James doesn’t forbid us from planning, but advises us to include God in our plans. “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that’” (James 4.15).

Our culture idolizes productivity and mastery of time, filling calendars, chasing deadlines, and marking anniversaries as if we can control time. But a single accident on a quiet village road can shatter that illusion.

We are not the masters of our fate. We are the stewards of fleeting days.

A Call to Wisdom

What, then, shall we do with this fleeting existence? Moses offers a simple but profound prayer: “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90.12). This is not a morbid obsession with death; rather, it is a prudent recognition of it.

A devoted child of God lives each day with eternity in mind. As the Hebrew writer reminds us, judgment comes after death (Hebrews 9.27). There is no second race or alternative path. Whether we die at 14 or 114, the race concludes for everyone—and ultimately, the finish line that truly counts appears.

For those in Christ, that finish line is not fearful. The apostle Paul, nearing his end, wrote with confidence, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4.7). We are not guaranteed a long race, but it must be a faithful one.

Redeeming the Time

The tragedy of Fauja Singh’s passing should stir us, not just with grief, but with resolve. Not everyone will run marathons. But all of us are race runners. The Hebrew writer exhorts us to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and…run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12.1).

This life—delicate and brief as it is—is a gift. It’s not meant for self-indulgence but for obedience. It’s not for procrastination but for preparation. If today is all we have, let it be a day that honors God.

Conclusion

Like the marathons he ran for decades, Singh’s life had a clear beginning, a long middle filled with purpose, and an end that came suddenly. The race is over, but the legacy of how he ran remains. He reminds us that neither extraordinary strength nor advanced age can prevent the end of life. For everyone, death is certain—sometimes sudden, sometimes anticipated, but always unavoidable.

The vapor will vanish. But until then, let us live wisely, walk humbly, and prepare fervently for what lies ahead.

“For what is your life?” (James 4.14 KJV)

This is a question worth asking before our last breath answers it.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB® (New American Standard Bible®, 1995 Updated Edition). Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reference list:

Singh, I. P. (2025, July 15). At 114, oldest marathon runner Fauja Singh killed in road accident. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/at-114-oldest-marathon-runner-fauja-singh-killed-in-road-accident/articleshow/122460660.cms

Time Flies, But We Navigate

Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

Neal Pollard

Ann Turner Cook passed away at her St. Petersburg, Florida, home on Friday, June 3, 2022. She was 95 years old, was an educator, a novelist, a wife, and a mother. Her father was a well-known cartoonist. But you almost certainly know her for a charcoal drawing that was made of her by an artist neighbor, Dorothy Hope Smith. It was submitted for the label of a baby food company and chosen in 1928, then trademarked in 1931. Ann was the original Gerber baby (news report here)! You’ve seen that iconic picture. If you realized she was a real person, you never thought about the fact that this baby grew up and eventually grew old. Or that she would now be dead.

I know nothing about Mrs. Cook’s religious life or spiritual preparation. But I do know that she is part of a universal truth concerning life, and that is that death comes relatively soon for us all. How soon? 

  • Like water spilled on the ground (2 Sam. 14:14). 
  • Like a weaver’s shuttle (Job 7:6; Isa. 38:12). 
  • Like a breath (Job 7:7).
  • Like a shadow (Job 8:9; 1 Chr. 29:15; Ec. 6:12). 
  • Like a flower (Job 14:2).
  • Swift as a runner (Job 9:25).
  • Like a handbreadths (Ps. 39:5).
  • Like a wind that passes (Ps. 78:39). 
  • Like a sigh (Ps. 90:9). 
  • Like smoke (Ps. 102:3).
  • Like a lengthened shadow  and grass (Ps. 102:11; 109:23). 
  • Like a passing shadow (Ps. 144:4). 
  • Like a fading flower or withering grass (Isa. 40:7-8; Js. 1:10; 1 Pet. 1:23-25). 
  • Like a vapor (Js. 4:14). 

With that in mind, shouldn’t we pray with David, “LORD, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am” (Ps. 39:4).

Yes, we can look at the Gerber Baby and see that. Or we can look through our own family albums. The baby, childhood, and young adult photos of our grandparents, parents, or ourselves. The weathering winds of time do sure and quick work, reminding us of the many ways the Bible depicts it for us. Time is short and it passes quickly.

Rather than a depressing inevitability, this should be a respected teacher. We should pray with Moses, “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:9). We should take Paul’s inspired advice and “be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16). Don’t leave undone what needs to be done. Don’t put off what must be done before this life is over. It will be over before you know it. As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (9:27).