‘Nightmare’ is far too tame a word to describe the disaster that occurred when the luxury yacht The Bayesian was struck by a powerful storm off the coast of Sicily. It was so fierce that it caused ‘waterspouts’ to appear over the sea and the super yacht sank with horrendous consequences for software millionaire Mike Lynch and all on board.

Mr Lynch, as we know, had been acquitted in the US in June on multiple fraud charges, over which he had potentially been facing two decades in jail, and it would appear that the small group that had gathered on the yacht had come together at least in part for a celebration of his acquittal. And then, in a terrible coincidence his co-defendant who was also acquitted in the fraud trial died after being hit by a car while out running two days before. 

Life, as so many people discover, can prove unbelievably cruel and painful. In fact, tragedies such as these only go to prove that none of us can be sure we will live as long as we would like to, whatever our achievements, our position in society or the size of our bank accounts.  They cannot shield us from life’s cruel vicissitudes.

Listening to the news reports of these tragic events I found myself being reminded of some important insights that we find in the New Testament. To begin with we do well to remember that life is short – ‘it is like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes’ said James, the brother of Jesus. Dennis Thatcher seems to have appreciated this. I read recently that following the failed attempt on his wife Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s life in 1984 he bought her a watch and enclosed a note that said ‘Every minute is precious’. Wise words indeed which is why I think we should make the most of our lives by heeding Jesus’ advice that we should love God and love others as much as we love ourselves.

Given the potential imminence and the undeniable certainty of death, it surely makes sense to take some time out to reflect on what will happen to us after death. We may reach different conclusions of course – Betrand Russel for example said he would ‘rot’ - but I reckon you have to be pretty daft if you’re not willing to spend some time thinking about it.

I have reached the conclusion that Jesus should know because He died but came back to life again, and in my humble opinion that makes him an expert.  He was quite clear: life continues after death, and we will have to face God to account for how we have lived and responded to His offer of eternal life.

Now lots of people seem think that ‘faith’ is always synonymous with ‘blind faith’ and there is no rational reason for the things we believe. That’s not my kind of faith and it’s not the kind of faith that Jesus is looking for. My faith arose from a serious consideration of Christianity, and I ended up acknowledging Him as my Lord. Like Lee Strobel. Investigative journalist Strobel was an avowed atheist, convinced that “people created God because they were afraid of death” but his attempt to disprove his wife’s newfound faith persuaded him to become a believer too.  

Now there’s something to think about.