I Am Dying

It's true. It's unavoidable. I have been diagnosed with a condition that is fatal. I don't know exactly how many days or hours I have left, but the prognosis is ultimately bleak. It doesn't matter how many vitamins I take or how much I jog or how much sleep I get or many green vegetables I eat or how good my health care is, the simple fact remains: I am going to die.

You are dying too. You may or may not realize it, but by the time you are done reading this, you will be 5 or 10 minutes closer to the end of your life. I know this is bleak, but I figured that you would want to know the truth.

Of course, by now you realize that I am not speaking of some specific disease that I have - there's no cancer or HIV or MS - but rather that I am highlighting the fact that the mortality rate of humanity is 100%. We don't like to think about it because it is uncomfortable. Many of us are young, still in good health, and live relatively peaceful and comfortable lives. If fact, in America, we are so relaxed and comfortable that it is killing us. Obesity is the biggest (no pun intended) health issue facing our country right now.

This evening, I spent some time in the hospital with a man who has been given no more than 2 days to live. He has been battling cancer for the last 3 years or so and took a turn for the worse over the weekend. I had lunch with him a few months ago, and he told me that his cancer actually served to awaken him to the reality that we all face, namely that we will all die. His heart was not sad or despairing; he has lived a full life and experienced many good things. He was not full of some "carpe diem" fluff; he was purposefully taking me out to lunch to share the wisdom that he has gleaned over the years with me. The cancer, rather than deflating his hope, served to propel him forward.

Christians believe that in the history of the world, there is only one person who ever successfully defeated death: Jesus Christ. The Bible makes the audacious claim that after the Romans crucified Jesus for claiming to be God, he came back to life 3 days later. In case you weren't aware, that doesn't happen. The Christian faith then goes on to claim that for those who put their faith in Christ, a similar resurrection awaits them at an appointed time in the future. The Bible claims that Jesus is the first of many more to come in the future.

For the Christian, death is sorrowful, but it is not the end of the story. One of the earliest Christian writers, St. Paul, when facing his impeding execution, wrote about his emotional conflict. He knew that he had much to do on this earth still for the cause of Christ, but he was also eager to depart this life to be with Jesus. After death comes rest (heaven), and after rest comes resurrection. Heaven is great, but it is not the end of the story. The book of Revelation claims that at the end of time, God will restore the earth and all of the cosmos to a perfect balance, a perfect order, a perfect shalom. The Christian faith holds incredible hope for this life, as well as for the life to come.

As I left the hospital, a flood of scriptures were flooding through my mind: Philippians 1:23, 1 Corinthians 15:26, 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, Hebrews 2:14-15, Colossians 2:13-14, Revelation 21 and 22. I got into my car, and I plugged in my iPod into my car stereo, which is set to auto-play. I was a little bit more than amazed when the following song came up on my iPod. I encourage you to listen to it and ponder these words of hope. For the believer in Jesus, there is a sense of longing and desire that lies beyond what this world has to offer.

There's a country that no one's found yet. Somehow I seem to know about it.
There's a melody that no one's sung yet. It's faint, but I can hear it echoing.
I've never been alone, but I've never felt at home. Isn't it strange that everyone feels this?

Try and name it, try to forget, there is something more that I desire but I cannot become yet.
Still I'm haunted, I feel the ache, there's a thousand joys that show me home but never let me stay.

I have sailed across the sea, I've seen the ocean floor, but I cannot become the tide and battle with the shore. I know there must be something more. I can feel the winds are rushing, I hear them in the trees, but I cannot rage through the sky and wrestle with the leaves. But I've heard that this won't always be....

Someday soon we shall put on the sun. Not the one we see, that's just a sketch of what's to come.
Earth and sky are coming to their end. We will wear the glory they had always hinted at.

I have sailed across the sea and seen the ocean floor, but I cannot become the tide and battle with the shore. I've always known there's something more. I can feel the winds are rushing, I hear them in the trees, but I cannot rage through the sky and wrestle with the leaves. But I know that it won't always be this way!