January 2, 2001
Aunt Bessie’s funeral was December 27th, four days before the end of this year, a year to the day from my Dad’s funeral and two months after her husband’s burial.
For me and others in my family, questions about endings lurk in our minds even more than they normally do this time of year. We started 2000 with a list of dreams and now end it looking at the results. Few people want to end a year poorly and as we buried Bessie, we realized it is the same with our lives.
In a poem entitled “Exit,” author Luci Shaw asks these questions: “When you go will you go with a sizzle—a spiteful spitting on a hot plate? . . . when you leave will you leave with a bang—exploding like a far star, kicking your hot cinders in God’s eyes?”
I know that I do not want to finish anything with a sizzle, a spiteful spitting or any defiance toward God. Instead, I prefer an exclamation mark, a humble reliance, and a sense of hearing God say, “Well done, my child.”
It is this need to feel significant, to matter, that comes into focus during the last few weeks of December or at funerals. We evaluate, resolve, check off our lists, and set new goals.
I used to be big on New Year’s resolutions but ignored factors that are out of my control, like the limits of a twenty-four hour day. About five years ago, I shifted my to-do list toward a “to-be” list. The Bible says God wants me to be like Jesus and so I selected that as a worthy goal.
Worthy goals give meaning to life. As Spanish composer and musician Pablo Casals said, “The capacity to care gives life its deepest significance.” One part of what it means to be like the Lord, one part of having a significant life, is deeply caring for other people.
Bessie was like that. She knew Jesus. She was not a perfect person (like He is) but she deeply cared about others. She took care of her ailing husband. She drove other women to their appointments and events, women fifteen years younger than she but who had stopped driving in their ‘old age.’ She loved her children and grandchildren, and as one of them said, she leaves a huge hole in the family. Jesus and caring about others gave her life meaning.
Caring about others expresses itself in different ways. My aunt had a servant heart that moved her to practical action. My father cared about people too yet his way of showing it was by helping them build things. Others might lend their leadership skills, or teach, or offer uplifting, encouraging words or a hug of compassion. If the heart is right, the actions will be also.
The minister at Bessie’s funeral said that her life went full circle. She began by helping her mother care for her father and ended by caring for her husband and others. When her tasks were done, she was done also. Her death was at the right time; her work was finished.
Just before Jesus left this earth, He prayed, “Father, the time has come. . . . I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” As He died on the cross, He shouted, “It is finished.”
His life was not long as long as Bessie’s, only thirty-three years. His ministry was very short too, only three years, yet Jesus did all that God wanted Him to do. He finished well, even perfectly, a model for Aunt Bessie and for all those who love Him and give their lives to Him.
Lord, the year is nearly over and I’m thankful for the life of my aunt and the example she set. She was not a perfect person in her lifetime, yet because of Your promise, “when we see Jesus we will be like Him” — Bessie is perfect now. She gazes on Your glory for eternity. Thank you for that hope; it belongs to all who trust in You. Thank You also for another year—the one just past and the one that lies ahead. Help me evaluate honestly, trust whole-heartedly, obey quickly, and when my turn comes, to also finish well.
Showing posts with label end of life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label end of life. Show all posts
Friday, February 2, 2018
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
What about the end? .......... Parables 698a
December 26, 2000
In a poem entitled “Exit,” author Luci Shaw asks these questions: “When you go will you go with a sizzle—a spiteful spitting on a hot plate? . . . when you leave will you leave with a bang—exploding like a far star, kicking your hot cinders in God’s eyes?”
Questions about endings seem to lurk in our minds around the last couple weeks of December. For a while we wondered — how will the U.S. elections finish? Now it is: how will this year finish? What will my family or my financial statement look like? Did I accomplish what I wanted to in this year 2000?
Many people started this millennial year with a list of dreams and many will take time to look at the results. Ending poorly is not on our mind — not for a day, a year, or even our life. We want to finish well, not with a sizzle but with an exclamation mark.
This desire is tied to our huge inner need to feel significant. I want my life to matter. When I come to the end of anything, whether a day, a week, or a year, evaluation seems almost as automatic as resolutions to do better next time.
I used to be big on those New Year’s resolutions too, but that was before discovering how easily I can set myself up for a poor ending. I would fill pages with things I wanted to do but ignored those factors that are out of my control, like the limits of a twenty-four hour day!
About five years ago, I decided to trade my to-do list for a “to-be” list. I want to be like Jesus, partly because I know that will give my life meaning. As Spanish composer and musician Pablo Casals said, “The capacity to care gives life its deepest significance.” That capacity is one part of what it means to be like the Lord.
I’m learning if I have a caring attitude, that is more important than any of the stuff that gets checked off my list. Being kind to people and becoming a more Christlike person has greater significant in that to-do list too; they are done in a meaningful way rather than simply completed.
Another trouble with resolutions is maintaining balance. What do we do about the mistakes of the past? Just forget them? And how do we plan for the future without, as some sage said, “continually expecting the coming of some special hour when our life shall unfold itself in its full significance” and miss the fact that “life is flowing like water through our fingers?”
Certainly yesterday’s choices makes a difference in today’s decisions but Emerson is wrong when he said, “Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. . . . Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely.” We can begin tomorrow with greater wisdom and serenity if we consider what worked well yesterday and what did not.
By far the most important part of moving into a new year or a new anything is deciding, regardless of what lies before me, that I will obey the Lord, that I will think and act in goodness. When it comes down to it, planning is okay but right now is the only real opportunity to do something significant. It may be a small thing in our eyes but Jesus said just giving someone a cup of cold water in His name would be rewarded. I’m sure He meant that we give it in kindness.
Lord, the year is nearly over and I’m thankful that my sins and stupidities are forgiven. I’m also thankful that You do not waste even that but use them to teach me that I need to depend on You. Thank You for Your presence and Your eternal care. If nothing else, may I be more obedient to You — in all of 2001 of course — but also today, even this very moment.
In a poem entitled “Exit,” author Luci Shaw asks these questions: “When you go will you go with a sizzle—a spiteful spitting on a hot plate? . . . when you leave will you leave with a bang—exploding like a far star, kicking your hot cinders in God’s eyes?”
Questions about endings seem to lurk in our minds around the last couple weeks of December. For a while we wondered — how will the U.S. elections finish? Now it is: how will this year finish? What will my family or my financial statement look like? Did I accomplish what I wanted to in this year 2000?
Many people started this millennial year with a list of dreams and many will take time to look at the results. Ending poorly is not on our mind — not for a day, a year, or even our life. We want to finish well, not with a sizzle but with an exclamation mark.
This desire is tied to our huge inner need to feel significant. I want my life to matter. When I come to the end of anything, whether a day, a week, or a year, evaluation seems almost as automatic as resolutions to do better next time.
I used to be big on those New Year’s resolutions too, but that was before discovering how easily I can set myself up for a poor ending. I would fill pages with things I wanted to do but ignored those factors that are out of my control, like the limits of a twenty-four hour day!
About five years ago, I decided to trade my to-do list for a “to-be” list. I want to be like Jesus, partly because I know that will give my life meaning. As Spanish composer and musician Pablo Casals said, “The capacity to care gives life its deepest significance.” That capacity is one part of what it means to be like the Lord.
I’m learning if I have a caring attitude, that is more important than any of the stuff that gets checked off my list. Being kind to people and becoming a more Christlike person has greater significant in that to-do list too; they are done in a meaningful way rather than simply completed.
Another trouble with resolutions is maintaining balance. What do we do about the mistakes of the past? Just forget them? And how do we plan for the future without, as some sage said, “continually expecting the coming of some special hour when our life shall unfold itself in its full significance” and miss the fact that “life is flowing like water through our fingers?”
Certainly yesterday’s choices makes a difference in today’s decisions but Emerson is wrong when he said, “Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. . . . Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely.” We can begin tomorrow with greater wisdom and serenity if we consider what worked well yesterday and what did not.
By far the most important part of moving into a new year or a new anything is deciding, regardless of what lies before me, that I will obey the Lord, that I will think and act in goodness. When it comes down to it, planning is okay but right now is the only real opportunity to do something significant. It may be a small thing in our eyes but Jesus said just giving someone a cup of cold water in His name would be rewarded. I’m sure He meant that we give it in kindness.
Lord, the year is nearly over and I’m thankful that my sins and stupidities are forgiven. I’m also thankful that You do not waste even that but use them to teach me that I need to depend on You. Thank You for Your presence and Your eternal care. If nothing else, may I be more obedient to You — in all of 2001 of course — but also today, even this very moment.
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