What Separates Life from Death: A Mere Comma

"Death be not proud, though some have callèd theeMighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe,For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee;From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.Thou’art slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,And poppie,’or charmes can make us sleepe as well,And better then thy stroake; why swell’st thou then?One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,And death shall be no more, Death thou shalt die." John Donne, 1952

I woke up this morning at 7:20 to go on my weekly long run. A couple text messages announcing the death of a nineteen year old guy from our Church awaited my rising. Dear Lord, you warned us not to be lured into this world, that our life was a mere vapor. Life as it were is a work in progress, to fall in love with You and Your Word.

I pray for forgiveness today. Eric's death is a reminder of my own upcoming death. I pray that I am ready when that hour comes. We ought to remember the moral of "Runaway Bunny", the popular children's book. The baby bunny tells his mom that he will run away. His mother tells him that wherever he runs to, she will run after him. An allegory for God's unrelenting devotion and love for our souls. Though our souls may drift, God is fervently running after us, keeping us in His sight and presence.

For now, I will pray that God comforts his family--his mother, father and sister. To give them strength as his coffin is taken away from the Church, as the Good Friday hymns are chanted, to decide what to do with his belongings.

+ Memory Eternal +

Capable of Kindness

Ever wondered why the world you take for granted is often so stunningly beautiful? So pleasant to live in? Why the people around you are capable of so much kindness? 

I read this bit in a book I'm currently reading and was reminded of this past Saturday morning's event: getting a flat tire on 29. I had a feeling when I left that morning at 8 am that something wasn't right with my car. Thirty minutes into the drive, I stopped at a gas station to see if I could pump in some air in the tire. I couldn't even screw off the cap in the tire so reasoned with myself that it must be a sign that it has enough air. I prayed that I could just arrive home without a disaster. Well, God having a sense of humor, 10 miles away from home, I heard the loudest rumbling noise imaginable and realized that my front left tire was dying on me. I pulled over on the right shoulder and called my mom right away to tell me what to do. 

While waiting an hour and a half for roadside assistance to arrive, four strangers and two cops stopped to help and/or make sure I was safe and okay. Assuming that the cops stopped out of duty, I won't focus on them here. Rather, I want to thank those kind souls that didn't have to stop but did. 

The first man stopped 5 minutes after I pulled over. I truly believe that he was Godsent.  He told me, "Yesterday I saw someone pulled over and I REALLY wanted to stop and help but I was two lanes away and couldn't and I just thought GOSH! So today I saw you and knew that this was my chance. Can I help you?" I was touched by his desire to help but couldn't escape my unwillingness to be helped so I lied to him saying I didn't have a spare tire. I didn't want to waste his time. He sighed and told me to have a blessed day. 

The second man pulled up his SUV behind me. "Can I help you? It'll only take a couple minutes." I thanked him but assured him that "help was on its way." He asked again a second time if I just want to do it now and I told him, "No really its okay." 

The third man, wearing a West Point sweater, stopped and came over, "Hi! Let's change this tire!" I explained my situation of waiting and he said, "Okay....I just know that if my wife or daughter were like this, I would want someone to help them too." I thought this man had such kindness in heart to be thinking of strangers as his own family. 

The fourth man pulled up his Lexus convertible with a Florida license plate. He asked if I was okay and if there was anything he could do. 

I hated having a flat tire but it was really wonderful to see the kindness of the people around me. Not just the ones that stopped but also the ones that I am sure saw me and prayed that God would send me help. And indeed He did. But I didn't accept it. Or did I? 

One Year to Live

Every year my Church chooses a theme. This year's theme is based on the question: "What if you had one year to live?"

As a result of a few near-death situations experienced by our priests and an abnormally high number of deaths in our church family this year, this seems like an apt focus for us. 

I must admit, the challenge of living my life as though its my last year is stressful. If I had one last year to live, what choices would I really make? This was actually a topic in the show House once. Dr. Wilson the oncologist had diagnosed a patient with cancer and told him he had 6 months to live. Later, he figured out that the biopsy was a false positive and upon telling the man that he actually was going to live and not die, the man was upset at "the good news." Turns out that after having a few good-bye parties and selling his home, he was ready to go. He had been happy knowing he was dying and the thought of him not being able to die was frustrating, to say the least. Turns out, that "living is hard and dying is good," said Wilson. 

Thankfully, the Church has focus areas for us each couple months to keep us on track. The first is repenting of our sins, the second is to mend broken relationships and saying our sorry's, and so on...

It should be an exciting and challenging year. eeeekk