September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists (from 8.46 to 10.28 am) using four commercial airliners attacked the US World Trade Centre and The Pentagon (and also targeted the US Capitol building, but failed). Result? Two thousand nine hundred seventy-seven people died and 25,000 injured. Nobody was prepared for this sudden crisis and tragedy.

St Paul's epistle to the Corinthians gives us the impression of a person filled with passion for his vocation. Of his preaching, he sees it as "a duty which has been laid on me" (v 16) and "a responsibility which has been put into my hands" (v 17). Of his reaching out to others for Christ, he says that "I have made myself the slave of everyone to win as many as I could" (v 19), and that "I made myself all things to all ... in order to save some at any cost" (v 22). And then he continues by saying to his readers, "you must run... to win" (v 24); and that their goal must be to ''win a wreath ... that will never wither" (v 25).

If we live as St Paul lived, then if we were to die suddenly, we would die as those who have discharged their duty and responsibility well. We would die as those who have tried their very best to bring others into God's Kingdom. And our lives would bear witness to our self-discipline where we had strived for excellence. We would have died "prepared", no matter how sudden our death may be as in 9/11.