Jesus said: "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Mt. 16:25) Life is a paradox. It is a mystery we must learn to embrace. The key to this paradox is Jesus. Life is a gift from God. It is not my possession. The moment I try to possess the gift  outside of God is the moment I begin to lose the place of God in my life. My human life is here today and gone tomorrow. But the life that God gives us beyond our human life, namely a share in God's own divine life, will last forever, as long as I live in, for and with God. This is the life of which Jesus said: "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) My human life I can feel; the life of God within me is perceived only in faith. Both are gifts to be treasured and responded to according to the plan of the Giver. What is that plan? Live in God and God will live in us. Apart from him all we do has no positive eternal benefit. The gift is from God. The choice of response is ours.