We are called to make a life of faith, a way of living, from the flotsam and jetsam of daily moments and events. Here's one such piece from my life today.
He said: "I was in my early forties,
With a lot of life before me,
An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days,
Looking at the x-rays,
An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin’ ‘bout sweet time."
I asked him when it sank in,
That this might really be the real end?
How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news?
Man what'd ya do?
An' he said: "I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'."
He said "I was finally the husband,
That most the time I wasn’t.
An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.
And all of a sudden goin' fishin’,
Wasn’t such an imposition,
And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.
Well, I finally read the Good Book,
And I took a good long hard look,
At what I'd do if I could do it all again,
And then:
"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.
"Like tomorrow was a gift,
And you got eternity,
To think about what you’d do with it."
What did you do with it?
What did I do with it?
What would I do with it?
Sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
And I watched an eagle as it was flyin'.
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'."
--Tim McGraw, "Live Like You Were Dying"
(You can go here to hear the song and read the lyrics.)
Posted by Clifton at August 13, 2004 10:42 AM | TrackBackI had a friend who one day was showing her Doberman in a dog show and the next was having a brain biopsy to determine if the mass next to her brain stem was cancerous. The dog didn't place and the mass was cancerous/advanced stage/inoperable. She lived 5 months post diagnosis.
We talked during those days, about what she was going to do when she "got well." She dreamed. But towards the end, while in hospice, she talked of her 4 year old son mostly...what she would miss...and cried.
She lived life fully and said she had no regrets.
I miss her still. And make my spaghetti sauce and meatballs the way she taught me.
Good post Clifton.
Posted by: philippa at August 14, 2004 07:29 AM