THE BLOG

When death pulls the trigger with its sights set on you, will you—will I—be ready? That thought has been on my mind recently not in a morbid sense, but in the sense of a sobering reminder that with each advancing year, death becomes a greater reality for me. What triggered my reflection and pondering is that recently I learned that one of my high school classmates had just lost his year-long battle with cancer. Reading his obituary caused me to reflect on my own approaching appointment with death—a date not yet on my calendar but still an assured reality nonetheless. He was less than one day younger than me. Once again, life had given me a sobering reminder that the ratio of death to people is still one per person.

In recent months my pondering has been focused on those in our American culture whose worldviews and what they understand truth to be, have led them to conclusions and behaviors that cause many of the rest of us to shake our heads in disbelief regarding what we are hearing and seeing around us. How did we get here, and especially how did we get here so fast?

One of the simple pleasures in life for my wife Lynne and me is to attend a movie at a local movie theater. What makes it most pleasurable is not the movie – though obviously we want the movie to be good. The pleasure comes from throwing health caution to the wind for just a few hours by purchasing a large tub of buttered popcorn that comes with free unlimited refills.