We're All in Transition!

My friend Alan Ahlgrim sends an e-newsletter each week to members of his congregation and anyone else who would like to get it. Alan is an excellent writer; I always enjoy seeing what he sends. But today's encouragement reflects on the death of Don Jeanes as I did yesterday, with more substance and thoughts worth sharing. So let me share here what he wrote . . . .

It was stunning news. Early Monday morning an old college friend suddenly died. Don Jeanes was a classmate of Linda and mine at Milligan College. After graduating Don went on to serve as the minister of two different congregations and then as President of our college for 14 years. He had just transitioned to a Chancellor role when he collapsed

 I’ve been bragging about Don lately as one who finished well when he retired as President.The college was in terrific shape. He and his beautiful wife Clarinda were a devoted couple, and their on-going kingdom investments were fulfilling to them and making a difference for many. Now with no warning Don is gone, gone but not forgotten.

How long do you think it will be before you are gone? I just finished Bob Buford’s book, Beyond Half-time, in which he tells of a friend who almost died. His friend had been hospitalized in serious condition where he was nuked with every antibiotic known to man. As he lay flat on his back in bed for endless hours he had plenty of time to think.

Do you know what ran through his mind? “Am I leaving the way I want to?” Bob said, “It was 90% relational. It was not about getting financial affairs in order, but about getting relationships in order!”  His friend wondered, “How do I die so well that it blesses and encourages people? How do I die in an other-centered way? I made an inventory of my calling. What have I left undone?”

 I’m working on a fresh list of things to do and people to touch. How about you? Our life is defined not just by our activities but also by our accomplishments; not just by the roles we fill but by the relationships we enjoy before we “transition.”

News flash: we’re all in transition! Life is a series of endings and beginnings and one day we will all face the ultimate one.  Actor James Dean once said, “Dream as if you’ll live forever; live as if you’ll die today.” Soon after that Dean died in a car crash at the age of 24.

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered – how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” Psalm 39:4-5.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” Jesus (John 11:25)

What do you yet need to do to leave well?

Sad Good-byes, Fruitful Labor

Last week we heard the sad news that a member of our church, a dynamic, active physician, died. Remarkably, he had survived a brain aneurysm two weeks earlier, but ultimately his system broke down, along with his family’s hope for his recovery. His funeral was Sunday; he would have turned 63 tomorrow.

We were sharing this story with a couple who told us a mutual friend’s husband, age 57, had just been diagnosed with Stage Four esophageal cancer. Their kids were coming to visit while they waited to hear treatment options from an oncologist.

Then first thing Monday Gene Wigginton called to report that Don Jeanes had collapsed with a fatal heart attack early that morning. I had just been in a meeting with Don a few days previous. He was speaking about how busy he was in retirement with his service in the community and our fellowship of churches. He had no apparent health problems. He was 66.

At our church Sunday, several hundred gathered for an emotional service in memory of our physician friend. Our minister, Tom Moll, quoted from Isaiah 57:

“The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death” (vv. 1, 2).

In a world filled with war, in a culture riddled with stress, in a country characterized by sleeplessness and frustration and conflict, “entering into peace” sounds good, doesn’t it?

But most of us cling to life, no matter how many pressures and problems it brings us. We don’t want peace enough to die for it.

We all remember what Paul said: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” But not so many have memorized the rest of Paul’s conclusion: “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me” (Philippians1: 20, 21).

“Fruitful labor.” Is that why I want to go on living? If God confronted me with the choice of life or death, would I think first of family I don’t want to leave, experiences I don’t want to miss, good-byes I don’t want to say? Or would I have the character of Paul and think first of the work for God I haven’t yet accomplished?

This much is certain: when good and Godly men are snatched from us before they’re old, we look at their work not yet finished. And then we consider our future plans and realize they could go undone at any time. And we wonder, what fruitful labor should be our highest priority today?

Shocking News

Today began with the shocking news that Don Jeanes, retired president of Milligan College, died suddenly very early this morning.  I was with him in a meeting just last week and I am one of literally hundreds, probably thousands, who received the news with something close to disbelief.
As Paul Blowers said on Facebook, we are saddened by his death, but his vibrant legacy will live on long beyond him.
I've been thinking about death this weekend, but it's late and I'm tired after a church meeting that didn't end till 9:00. I'm going to process my thoughts and try to write something coherent a little later.