One of my favorite jokes is about 3 men who died about the same time and are in line to get into Heaven. St. Peter meets them at the gate and makes a general announcement: "Excuse me! May I have your attention, please? We are a little backed up with mansion construction just now, so we are going to let people in based on how they used the gifts God gave them." Some of the people in line started shifting nervously from foot to foot.
"You there," said Peter to the first man in line. "What was your IQ?" After a brief pause the man replied "130."
"Well, then! Did you get your Master's degree?"
"Yes..." came the somewhat puzzled answer.
"Wonderful! Come on in!" To the next man in line Peter asked the same question. "120!" came the confident answer. "Okay! Did you get your Bachelor's degree?" Peter responded. "I sure did!" said the man. "Very good!" said Peter. "Come on in!" and patted the man on the shoulder as he walked through the gates. Turning to the third man in line, the sainted gatekeeper asked the question again. "You, sir. What was your IQ?" The man looked down at his feet and replied, "80, sir."
"Ah," said Peter with a look of compassion on his face. "Um... uh... OH! Did you get your elk?"
It should come as no surprise that hunter's wives find this joke far more amusing than hunters.
This last week has been a week of introspection and emotion for me and my family. We lost a family member this week. My niece, Katie. A twin, 40 years old with a husband, a beautiful 19-year old daughter and a set of beautiful 12-year old twin girls. She met Jesus this last Wednesday after years of health problems that included two open-heart surgeries. My wife, Penny helped raise these twins since before we were married, and they have always considered her a second mom. We were with Katie a few days before she passed and I was impressed by her faith, her Humanity, and her family. She told us she was ready. She had made things right and prepared her family as best she could. She seemed pretty confident so I was a little surprised when she looked at us and said "But, I'm still kinda scared. I'm not ready to go yet." Yeah, I know what you mean Katie.
You see, I'm not afraid of "Death" but I am a bit concerned about "dying." As Christians, we have faith that there is something for us beyond the veil of death. We believe we will be united with God on the "other side," but we don't have many specifics about our new address. What we have been given all comes from descriptions of first-hand accounts given to us by people that didn't even have indoor plumbing. As a result, our picture of Heaven consists of images conjured by phrases like "streets of gold" and "a city with a foundation made of precious jewels," and "4 and 20 elders singing around a crystal sea." While that verbal imagery may have meant something to the disciples of 2000 years ago, it has lost something in translation, not just into English, but into the 21st century. Were these visions of Heaven or did they have some other purpose? Depends on who you talk with, and what they WANT to believe.
Oddly enough, this may have been by design. No one, even today, has any idea of what Heaven will be like. Those that say they do, will likely be surprised when they finally arrive there. It is a place conceived by an infinite intellect. A mind so far beyond us that were it not for the fact that He wants us to understand a portion of his character, and wrote us a Bible to do just that, we would be totally unable to comprehend Him at all. Like a dog looking at a ceiling fan.
I know this sounds like the ramblings of someone who is afraid to die, but it is actually the ramblings of someone who is more afraid not to live. We will all die eventually "should the Lord tarry" (as they used to say in my church) and it doesn't do anyone any good to dwell on that overmuch. In 100 years, virtually every one alive today on the entire planet will have been replaced with others. Worrying about the "afterlife" wastes too much of the precious "now-life" that God has granted to us.
I don't want to take health and life for granted. I want to be more engaged and active. I want to find reasons to say "yes" rather than excuses to say "no." I've heard someone say they wanted to end their life by four-wheel drifting into their space in Heaven's parking lot, jump out of the hot-rod red convertible yelling "WHOO HOO! What a ride!" I'm quite not there anymore, but yeah. I get you. At this point in my life, the most I can probably hope for is that my answer will not be "Um..." when asked "What did you do with the life I gave you?"
Goodbye Katie. We love you. We'll look after your kids. Tell Jesus I said "Hi."
