I attended a funeral today. It was for a lady I didn't know at all. I am sure we saw one another at worship. She only lived locally the last couple of years, she died full of years and relatively painlessly. Her funeral was sad for her family, for one of her daughters in particular, but those present were mostly in a state of acceptance. Her granddaughter, a strikingly pretty red head, was sweet and thoughful and made the effort to come and thank me for being there and to say that she was glad if her grandmother had to go that she went as she did. The service was small but sweet and touching and I was glad to have been there.
I learned today that an acquaintance was killed in an car accident. I dont know details but I hope her passing was at least quick as it does not seem it could have been painless. In a strange string of connections, I just got to know her husband over New Years on the mission trip. I had worked with her on an Emmaus weekend and got to be friends in the team meetings that preceeded the weekend. Her life was certainly full, but her days seemed short.
I guess because of these events, and the time of year. my thoughts have been about how I finish the race. I dont mean how I die, Lord knows I have my preferences there! I want to go in my sleep just this side of my mind functioning as well as it ever has. Big surprise, isn't it?! As if anyone sits around thinking, 'I know, I'd like to get an exotic disease they will name after me and die slowly'. But that isn't what I mean anyway. What I mean is, when I think about what I hope to accomplish in my life time, what I would like to leave behind.
I know everyone wants to leave behind something, a validation that their life was meaningful. But I mean beyond that too. I mean if you could choose some way to effect the pool before you were no longer in the water, what effect would you like to make. What would I like to do? I read a book by Bill Bright several years ago called The Journey Home: Finishing with Joy. I remembered it particularly because my cousin had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor and I thought if it was uplifting I would send it to her. Bill Bright wrote the book while dying himself and I wondered if she would find it a source of comfort. She died before I finished the book myself so I never sent it on, but I read it with awe at the sense of urgency to complete work he had began and the lack of anger at knowing that death was approaching and that it was approaching noisily. I know his death was as a result of his lungs loss of ability to function properly. That is not a comfortable death. Yet tonight when I googled his name and found all his books I was struck with the legacy he left behind that I am confident continues to impact the pool.
I think about people like Oswald Chambers and Brother Lawrence and Sister Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther, John Wesley, John Calvin, John Wycliffe and people like them long gone from the water still changing the pool and I want to finish with that in mind. I do not have their gifts or call, but in my own way I want to know that I used the gifts and the talents given me in such a way that though no one may ever remember the contribution was mine, it continues to impact others. This is the kind of party I want at the end.
A woman dear to my heart fights one thing after another as the treatment to stop the progression of cancer in her body compromises her immune system. She has effected our pool locally in the manner she has dealt with her health issues. Her public requests for prayer and detmination to live as naturally as possible with joy are inspirational. She is also public with her frustrations and fears, wondering why she must walk this particular road, but she continues to walk. This is a legacy worth leaving behind too.
I wish to live like I know the wrap party is coming and I want it to have a lasting impact. And if we can work out the sleep, while still in as close to a right mind I have ever been, I would appreciate that too.
I learned today that an acquaintance was killed in an car accident. I dont know details but I hope her passing was at least quick as it does not seem it could have been painless. In a strange string of connections, I just got to know her husband over New Years on the mission trip. I had worked with her on an Emmaus weekend and got to be friends in the team meetings that preceeded the weekend. Her life was certainly full, but her days seemed short.
I guess because of these events, and the time of year. my thoughts have been about how I finish the race. I dont mean how I die, Lord knows I have my preferences there! I want to go in my sleep just this side of my mind functioning as well as it ever has. Big surprise, isn't it?! As if anyone sits around thinking, 'I know, I'd like to get an exotic disease they will name after me and die slowly'. But that isn't what I mean anyway. What I mean is, when I think about what I hope to accomplish in my life time, what I would like to leave behind.
I know everyone wants to leave behind something, a validation that their life was meaningful. But I mean beyond that too. I mean if you could choose some way to effect the pool before you were no longer in the water, what effect would you like to make. What would I like to do? I read a book by Bill Bright several years ago called The Journey Home: Finishing with Joy. I remembered it particularly because my cousin had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor and I thought if it was uplifting I would send it to her. Bill Bright wrote the book while dying himself and I wondered if she would find it a source of comfort. She died before I finished the book myself so I never sent it on, but I read it with awe at the sense of urgency to complete work he had began and the lack of anger at knowing that death was approaching and that it was approaching noisily. I know his death was as a result of his lungs loss of ability to function properly. That is not a comfortable death. Yet tonight when I googled his name and found all his books I was struck with the legacy he left behind that I am confident continues to impact the pool.
I think about people like Oswald Chambers and Brother Lawrence and Sister Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther, John Wesley, John Calvin, John Wycliffe and people like them long gone from the water still changing the pool and I want to finish with that in mind. I do not have their gifts or call, but in my own way I want to know that I used the gifts and the talents given me in such a way that though no one may ever remember the contribution was mine, it continues to impact others. This is the kind of party I want at the end.
A woman dear to my heart fights one thing after another as the treatment to stop the progression of cancer in her body compromises her immune system. She has effected our pool locally in the manner she has dealt with her health issues. Her public requests for prayer and detmination to live as naturally as possible with joy are inspirational. She is also public with her frustrations and fears, wondering why she must walk this particular road, but she continues to walk. This is a legacy worth leaving behind too.
I wish to live like I know the wrap party is coming and I want it to have a lasting impact. And if we can work out the sleep, while still in as close to a right mind I have ever been, I would appreciate that too.
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