Titles or Testimonies

From the Life Lessons sidebar in my Devotional Bible:

On one such Sunday, after half a dozen students had given their reports, my pastor got up and delivered some closing words. "Children," he said, "you are doing to die! You may not think you're going to die. But you're going to die. One of these days, they're going to take you out to the cemetery, drop you in a hole, throw some dirt on your face, and go back to the church and eat potato salad."

"When you were born," he said, "you alone were crying and everybody else was happy. The important question to ask is this: When you die are you alone going to be happy, leaving everybody else crying? The answer depends on whether you live to get titles or you live to get testimonies. When they lay you in the grave, are people going to stand around reciting the fancy titles you earned, or are they going to stand around giving testimonies of the good things you did for them? Will they list your degrees and awards, or will they tell about what a blessing you were to them? Will you leave behind just a newspaper column telling people how important you were, or will you leave crying people who give testimonies of how they've lost the best friend they ever had? There's nothing wrong with titles. Titles are good things to have. But if it ever comes down to a choice between a title or a testimony--go for the testimony." (From Who Switched the Price Tags? by Tony Campolo)

Dying

What sort of a lover am I to think so much about my affliction and so much less about hers? Even the insane call, 'Come back,' is all for my own sake. I never even raised the question whether such a return, if it were possible, would be good for her. I want her back as an ingredient in the restoration of my past. Could I have wished her anything worse? Having got once through death, to come back and then, at some later date, have all her dying to do over again? They call Stephen the first martyr. Hadn't Lazarus the rawer deal? ~ from A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

In the past 5 years, I have had three people very close to me pass away. My mom, my dad, and my nephew/godson. I miss them all terribly. However, they all had much suffering to endure before their deaths.

Mom had ovarian cancer and underwent surgery and had three chemotherapy treatments. It was the chemo that contributed to her death. She contracted a blood infection due to her immune system being compromised.

Dad was ill for a very long time. We never really had a diagnosis of what was wrong with him. He had various ailments and was on dialysis and oxygen. A year before his death he fell and broke his hip and was never able to go back home and had to use a walker or wheel chair from that point on. He was very sensitive to medications, except for pain medicine which he took a lot of, and had a lot of side effects. (I am also sensitive to medicines, except for pain medicine - I take half doses of cold/allergy medicines, but take double does of ibuprofen for headaches.)

My nephew suffered from cystic fibrosis which was not diagnosed until he was about 15. Somehow he managed to avoid antibiotics and hospitals until he was 19. He had two trips to the hospital this spring. He was on oxygen, very sensitive to chemicals/allergens, took numerous enzymes/supplements with every meal to help with his digestion, and endured lots of breathing treatments. In the end, he refused to go to the hospital again and passed away at home.

So, even though I miss them and wish they were still here, I would not want them to have to endure that suffering again.

Last Words

I have no more ailments.

I can breath without oxygen.

I can digest food without enzymes.

I believe with all my heart I am healed.

Jesus Christ has saved my body and soul.

These were the last words that were written by my nephew. I am so saddened by his death, but I know that he is healed. And because of Jesus and the sacrifice He made, I will see him again someday.

In God's Peace (On Early Death)

by John Michael Talbot

The souls of the just are in God's hand
No torment shall ever touch them
In the view of fools they seem as dead
And their passing away an affliction

But they are in God's peace
Suffering a short time, now blessed indeed
But they are in God's peace
For the souls of the just are blessed indeed

Though the just die young, their souls are at rest
In a short time, their soul is perfected
Snatched away lest evil pervert their mind
God sped them away from the world

For they are in God's peace
Suffering a short time, now blessed indeed
For they are in God's peace
For the souls of the just are blessed indeed.

From the book of Wisdom (if you don't have a Catholic Bible you are missing out on some good stuff in Wisdom, read Wisdom 2:12-22 for an excellent prophecy of the Pharisees reaction to Jesus)

For the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble; They shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord shall be their King forever. Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love: Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect. (Wisdom 3:1-9)

But the just man, though he die early, shall be at rest. For the age that is honorable comes not with the passing of time, nor can it be measured in terms of years. Rather, understanding is the hoary crown for men, and an unsullied life, the attainment of old age. He who pleased God was loved; he who lived among sinners was transported – Snatched away, lest wickedness pervert his mind or deceit beguile his soul; For the witchery of paltry things obscures what is right and the whirl of desire transforms the innocent mind. Having become perfect in a short while, he reached the fullness of a long career; for his soul was pleasing to the Lord, therefore he sped him out of the midst of wickedness. (Wisdom 4:7-14)

These lyrics and scriptures are in memory of my nephew who passed away yesterday. He suffered from cystic fibrosis and died at the young age of twenty.

May he rest in peace.