A few years ago, a man was told by his doctor that he was dying. As they were having this most difficult of conversations, the man asked his doctor what it was like? (Dying that is.) The doctor was thinking of how to respond when a sharp scratching sound came from the office doorway. The doctor rose and opened the door and there to greet him was a very happy golden retriever. The dog expressed very evidently his joy at seeing his master and then was ushered into another office to wait for the doctor to complete his consultation with the patient. The doctor came back into the office and said, “You saw my dog just arrive here, he has never been here before. However he knew his master was here and so with anticipation he came joyfully through a door he had never been through before! To answer your earlier question, I like to think this is what dying is like. We are going through a door we have never been through before, however we know our master is waiting on the other side and so we go with joy and anticipation knowing a welcome is waiting us there!”
I haven’t thought of this much since when my Dad died, however last week with the passing of Steve Jobs, I was caused to read his 2005 Stanford commencement address, in it he talked very eloquently of various things. I enjoyed what he said and was sorry I hadn’t heard it or read it sooner. However at one point in discussing dying he said, “Even people who want to go to Heaven don’t want to die to get there.” This caused me to think about this a fair bit and the following is how it all came together in my mind.
We must learn to die to self, die to our self desires, longings, dreams and ambitions so that God can work into our lives whatever His plan for us is. (Don’t worry often the very thing He wants for us is even more wonderful and rich than what we can imagine for ourselves.) I am working at learning this. I had a wonderful experience of knowing several people in my life who successfully did this. Because you might by chance know some of these men and women, I am going to list their names and then you can see if you concur with my assessment. The people who come to mind are Stanley Sharpe, Steve Keech, Arnold Simpson (my dad), Ruth Haglund, Marion Robinson, Gordon Winkler, Alan Graham and many more.
I felt a little sad thinking of this, realizing one of the richest men in the world to his recollection never had the privilege of knowing someone who had learned and successfully implemented this lesson. I am so glad that the people I mentioned shared and affected my life… they were examples of “Letting go and letting God!” Their lives from start to finish were examples of this for as long as I knew them. I suddenly realized as I thought of it, how rich I am that I knew these people who, believed in Heaven and were dying to get there! I am going to work this week on living so that others will know when they come in contact with my life, “I too believe in Heaven and I too am dying to get there!”
Now on an additional note… I am continuing to enjoy good success on the first things first marathon and the lifestyle change adventure. My calorie counts got a little wonky this past weekend with several special feasts that I enjoyed, however I am well back on track and sweated my way through a very good “Hot Yoga” session at this morning!
