If you were to die suddenly tomorrow, would you be content with how you have lived your life? Are you doing what you want to be doing? Are you loving well and thoroughly the people you want to love and have you made peace with those from whom you are estranged? Are you listening for the rustlings of the Spirit and following in the ways you feel led? Have you been making progress on changing the harmful habits in your life and adding the healthy habits?
One of the ways you can reflect on your life is to imagine what the people closest to you would say if you were to die suddenly. What stories would they tell? What pictures would they show? Would the conversation be about what you had hoped to do but never had the chance to do? Would the stories revolve around how many great ideas you had that never came to fruition? Would people stand up and cry because they never had a chance to reconcile with you?
Yesterday I participated in a Celebration of Life for a remarkable woman. She died when she was only two months shy of her ninetieth birthday. The stories told about her life were funny, touching, and at times, profound. For a woman born in 1921, she was WAY ahead of her time! She made use of every minute she had on this earth. No one who knew her was under any illusion that she was perfect or without fault. Everyone who knew her, though, knew that all of the good in her far outweighed any of what was difficult about her.
The point of life is not to live it so that people will say nice things and tell great stories about you when you die. That was not why Virginia lived the way she lived. She believed the world needed to be changed and she could help move it along. Do you believe the world needs to be changed? Do you believe you can be a part of making that change happen? If so, there is no time like the present. Most of us probably won’t live until we are 89, sending out emails around the world until 2 weeks before we die. So, carpe diem!
When we are willing to partner with God in bringing about a whole new realm, it’s miraculous what God can accomplish with us and through us. If ever there is a day when I feel like giving up or giving in, I will think about dear Virginia and her uncompromising belief and work for a world that is peaceful and just and plentiful for all.