Life . . . and death

I visited Amy and Phil this weekend. Somehow this post by Amy, which I just read a few minutes ago, a post that mentions my visit, seemed peculiarly appropriate to summarize my day.

My sister Miriam asked me this morning to copy about half of my posts about Gracie Lou for her. --There's something about death.

Then, this evening, we went over to Dave and Jonelle's house to celebrate Natalia's second birthday today. --There's something about life.

And then, there's Amy's post--a combination of both.

I guess, maybe, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic tonight.

"Cowards die many times . . ."

I've been studying a series of courses called Simpleology for the last few years off and on. Sometimes they drive me nuts: they just don't scratch where I itch. But then, at other times, I realize I need their gentle discipline to keep me moving forward and on track day to day.

Right now I am in a period of time where I am trying to use the program to good benefit. And so, this morning, I listened to Simpleology 103, Lesson 20: "Sources of Distress: Mental Poison."

At one point, the instructor, Mark Joyner, quotes Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene 2, where Caesar, trying to explain why he is unwilling to be cowed by his opponents, says, "Cowards die many times before their deaths;/The valiant never taste of death but once."

The point: Because they concentrate so much upon risks and opportunities for failure, cowards often permit themselves to operate as if they really were dead. They don't do what they believe they ought to to do . . . out of fear.

Such "operational" death is bad enough. But for the cowards who are aware of their cowardice, I imagine there is a form of mental death as well every time they act as if they were dead: how crushing to the human spirit!

The valiant, meanwhile, thrust aside their fears and proceed to do what they believe they ought to. And so, they do not die until physical death takes them away.

Joyner, of course, urges us to follow the path of the valiant and avoid the mental poison of, as he puts it, "obsessing over failures." Other mental poisons he urges us to avoid:

• Negativity
   
• Hatred
   
• Anger

and,

• Pessimism

Death Clock

I've been working on a "200-year plan" for our family on my StrategicInheritance.com website. In one of my recent posts, "numbering our days"--simply beginning our plan with an acknowledgment of approximately how long we might expect to live . . . and using that estimation as a framework on which to build.

Well, I just found a tool that might provide more accurate numbers. Check out DeathClock.com. You'll find an estimate of your moment of death . . . down to the second.

As the owner of the website suggests, its purpose is to remind you that "life is slipping away . . . second by second" . . . though there are ways, potentially, for you to improve your chances for living longer.

One weakness in the site: it doesn't tell you how many seconds in a week (604,800), a month (approximately 2.5 million), or a year (31.5 million). So I could easily calculate that I'm looking at only about 20 more years, based on somebody's actuarial averages. (That sounds low to me--it has me dying at 74 years of age; but whether it's a bit low or about right, it's eye-opening.)

Even if I live to an "optimistic" age of not-quite-87, it's still eye-opening.

As for potentially extending your life . . . maybe you would like to . . .

• Quit smoking.


• Reduce your BMI (Body Mass Index) below 25. [The site even includes a handy BMI calculator.]


• Or, perhaps--with God's help--you can change your attitude. (Work on becoming more optimistic? --Definitely avoid sadism and/or pessimism!)

Enjoy!

Deaths and Dying

Sarita's mom called yesterday morning. Mom said that the husband of one of Sarita's cousins had just died.

Later in the morning, I received a phone call from one of the men with whom I served on the board of Caleb Project. Last July, Caleb Project had joined with ACMC (originally the Association of Church Missions Committees, more recently, Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment) and the united organizations renamed themselves Initiative 360--findable online at TakeItGlobal.org.

Based on my understanding of what he told me, it sounds as if I-360, unless salvaged by a massively powerful organization, is in a death spiral and will close its doors at the end of this month.

We are in shock. We were staff members of the organization for two years. I was on the board for an additional six. Caleb Project began back in 1980. . . .

Then this morning (early!), I could not sleep. I am so many hundreds of emails behind, and there is so much work to do: I got up and noticed an email with the name of Alan (Al) Groves, one of the guys I knew--and, with his wife Libbie, with whom Sarita and I were close--while we were in seminary. Without saying it in so many words, the subject line made clear that Al had died.

I have just spent some 45 minutes reading about Al's final year. He died of cancer--metastasized melanoma.

I don't know what to say.

Our days are short. I realize it more and more.

My "project" of seeking to pass on my vision, my life's work: I sense I need to engage in it with ever-stronger resolve.