Mini Me!

a guy that comes into my work was recently diagnosed with cancer. the doctors told him he didn’t have long left to live. when asked what he would do differently now that he knew he was going to die soon he said, “nothing. i’ve already been living everyday like it’s my last.”

So you posted in Nashville on the 31st, and I’m posting a response in Seattle on the 30th. What fun! :o) And time is marching on…

What you say is so true. (And cute pic!)

In answer to your question, because life is short, we need to focus on what is most important. I think we need to keep in mind that people are the most important thing on earth. Material things don’t matter so much except in how they can be used to help people. Another point I try to remember is that it’s more important to be kind than to be smart (or to be thought smart).

In order to seize the day, we need to find out what we’ve been made to do and go out and do it with everything in us! We need to live passionately and make the lives of the people we connect with better for having known us.

I’ve recently discovered Lance Wallnau – http://www.lancelearning.net/ – and have learned lots (and been reminded of things I knew before) about really going after life with everything you’ve got.

Some of his materials – like many growing ministries – are a little rough around the edges. However, much of the content, the ideas there, are just great.

He’s been involved with advising the heads of nations and bringing great change in places like America as well as third world countries that have been plagued with corruption from the heads of state on down.

Cool stuff.

I really need to see Dead Poets again soon. That is a great movie.

Ah. Now I feel like I’ve caught up on this great blog of yours. :o) There are still lots of good posts that merit a response… but they will have to wait for some other day.

Vicky – bummed that I missed the interview this morning. My wife and I will be at the concert next Friday in Arnold, MD – can’t wait! I’ll see you at recreate next week as well.

Dead Poet’s society is one of my all-time top ten flicks. It reminds me to never let the bohemian spirit die. I couldn’t agree with today’s blog more.

Maybe we can talk Randy into showing DPS next week at recreate!

-BP

dun dun dun *dramatic reverb*
I dont think you fully understand dps, see, Neil is not the lead, it’s Tod. the movie is about Tod learning to “seize the day”, it came very natural to the other boys, Neil included, but Tod obviously had somethings he needed to get out of the way, Neils death only forced him to step out of the box. it pushed him to be something extraordinary. thats why he’s the first to stand on his desk at the end of the movie.

okay, back to carpe diem.
yeah totally, ever moment counts.

Linz

Alright, VB, I’ll make this quick even though this is a really serious Q. Since I’m probably the oldest one blogging, and more than likely have considered my mortality more than most you youngins reading the blog (a result of having been a Navy chaplain 20 plus years, and was assigned to minister to my Camp Pendleton Marines in combat at the outset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where bad people frequently tried to shoot us), here’s my answer, which I wrote the other day: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippian 1:21

I don’t fear death and I think that I wouldn’t live life any differently if I knew that this day were my last. I am who I want to be. I might tell my wife and kids how much I love them again, but outside of that, nothing different.

About seven years ago my family and I were new to Camp Pendleton, CA and were looking for a church, so we went to North Coast Calvary Chapel in Carlsbad, CA. Pastor’s name was Mark Foreman. Great church. That Sunday he introduced his sons’ band who led the worship music that morning. I hadn’t heard of them. Great band. Down to earth guys, very talented, but they said that they were just glad to be home for the weekend to lead worship at their home church. Turns out they were “Switchfoot.” I think they were everything in Christ they wanted to be before they became a really good band. Pretty Cool huh?

Point – live all your days here to the fullest in Christ, so that when you die, you gain an eternity of days with him. It’s a really good deal. So seize the day with Christ.

Blessings, Pastor Frank

Cute pic!
Great insight too. Seize the day, those were the lyrics to an old song I used to have stuck in my head a lot. Every day is glorious because it is a day that the Lord has made, so we should go out and SEIZE IT!! Love you Vick!

You never know how different thoughts will impact you day to day. (That’s one of the reasons the Bible is amazing, no matter how many times you read it there is always something new to find). To hear or say the words, “carpe diem” is nothing new, but today it hit me different. Actually, it was more than those words, but the thought in general about who we are, and is it who we want to be.

I’ve spent some time really thinking about what it was I was feeling. To think that tomorrow would be my last day the feeling I find myself embracing is a combination of sorrow, frustration and peace. I’m sure that sounds like a weird combination, but that’s the best I could describe it as.

I’ve spent so much of my life striving to chase the vision and dream God has put on my heart, and every step has been an uphill fight. It seems like every time I get to the door I think will open on a place that matches my calling I get sent down another hallway. I almost feel like a janitor, going from project to project and always working and accomplishing good things, but never going home. I’ve spent the last 8 years of my life reconstructing things that others have broken. I have been places God has placed me, but the more I seek him the more I’m left aching for a day where I can run with the calling he has placed on me instead of being forced to set it on the back burner.

So it’s with mixed emotions that I think about carpe diem, and those lyrics, “this is your life, are you who you want to be.” If I had one more day left I know a few things would be true. I wouldn’t regret anything, for my life is not my own, I know that much. But I think if I were honest, there would be an element of sorrow that I was never released to chase the dream he has given me and finally work in my giftedness.

In the end though I agree that every day has something amazing to be found in it and I never want to let any slide away.

if you’re looking for a great way to “Carpe Diem” you should check out http://www.dosomegoodnow.com – basically, LJ Urban is sponsoring a project where for every 100,000 hits the site gets, a mason is trained to build eco-friendly homes in Burkina Faso, which provides homes for many who do not have one as well as a livelihood/steady income. I know you are really compassionate, so I thought you would be interested.

Just reading these comments before going to bed here in Nashville… Its inspiring to see all this community dialogue and to hear your thoughts on ‘carpe diem!’

Keep the thoughts coming!…

vicky

Vicky! I just stumbled on your blog and I dig it! When I think of “seize the day” I think more in terms of seize the moment. Because isn’t life made up of millions of moments? Every day holds hundreds or thousands of “moments.” Every one is different and every one can be more than it seems.

Great blog…look forward to reading on a regular basis…my blog is http://www.confessionsofaworshipper.com

Vicky! I just stumbled on your blog and I dig it! When I think of “seize the day” I think more in terms of seize the moment. Because isn’t life made up of millions of moments? Every day holds hundreds or thousands of “moments.” Every one is different and every one can be more than it seems.

Great blog…look forward to reading on a regular basis…my blog is http://www.confessionsofaworshipper.com

I deal with dying people all of the time, and frequently give people (and their families) the news that they have x hours, days, weeks to live.

Generally, non-Christians become angrier and angrier as they get close to death. Boy, do I have some stories about the point at which they go: they would chill your spine.

Christians become very happy, peaceful, and once the moment nears (and you can see it in people’s eyes), they get a smile on their face.

It isn’t always like this, but I would say this is generally the case.

Seeing all this death day in and out? I live my life to the fullest.

Thanks so much for sharing guys… I feel inspired reading this, sitting in my hotel in Atlanta after this evening’s concert. *CovenantMD I would love to hear some stories of people’s dying moments – feel free to post them here!
* Nathan – I’m sorry that its been an uphill fight… keep pressing on : )
* Ryland – I want to be able to die saying I wouldnt change a thing!
* Jonathan – you are so right; its ALL about people…
* Frank – great that you’ve been blessed by the Foremans
* Bobby – I think you’re right…life is just a long series of moments..I want to seize every one!

vb

As I said before, I’ve seen so many people die, I can now, 90% of the time, tell you if they are going to die that day, even if they are relatively stable. It’s just a look people get.

There was a gentleman I was taking care of in the intensive care unit. If you’re in the ICU, you’re at death’s door already, but surprisingly, we can save quite a few people, and I’ve seen some dramatic turn-arounds: Miracles in and of themselves. This guy had been “going down”, so to speak, for the past few days, and he became ever more irritable during this time. Paranoid, just plain mean and ugly, and rebuking any sort of notion I “call the chaplain for a talk”. Basically, a real “tough guy” who is planning on facing whatever happens.

Flash forward: 430am on the morning, and I’m rounding on my other patients..I hear this guy scream. Not just a regular scream, but a scream that is profanity-laced, with the words (greatly edited): “oh my ***, oh my ***”. I ask the nurse to take a look at him, and she says “Oh, he’s just having a panic attack”. Suddenly, he says ” GET THEM AWAY FROM ME. GET AWAY FROM ME, OH MY ***, THEY ARE COMING, WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME, GET AWAY FROM ME ” . I go into the room, 3 minutes later, despite “coding” him, he’s dead as a doornail.

How about this one: Lady with cancer everywhere, end-stage, and a host of other co-morbidities is transferred to the ICU because she is unstable in another area of the hospital and requires “pressors”. It’s around 2am. It’s clear to me that she is going to die (the look), and likely before sunrise, but it’s my job to keep her alive til her family comes in the morning so they can spend the sunrise together (her request). It sounds pretty dramatic, but it was just the reality of the situation. Anyway, it’s pretty quiet elsewhere, and she wants me to sit with her, so I do: The ICU is on a top-level floor, so we open the shades and look at the city lights, talking about her life. I start to probe whether or not she’s saved, and start talking about faith, what’s after we die, etc. Suddenly, she gets a very angry tone about her. She tells me that she “doesn’t need any faith, and doesn’t believe in the after-life, and NO THANK YOU, I WILL NOT SEE A CHAPLAIN”.

I back off, and she starts to go down hill a bit…making zero sense. She looks up at the ceiling, she has a period of lucidity, and asks me who else is in the room. I gently reminded her it was just me, and that no one else had entered, asking her what she sees.

“I see someone in black standing in the corner, to your left. I know that they are waiting for me”. I asked her how she saw them..”Because I’m looking down on us”. Frankly, I had to leave the room. Her family came a bit early, and she actually died before sunrise. They refused to see a chaplain too…

Long day at work, but I thought those might be of interest to you Vick. Amazing how some people still doubt God’s presence?