"Why mention this on a Friday afternoon, right on the doorstep of a well deserved weekend? A reminder. At any time, at any place, our future might not have a future. So to quote a famous line from a pretty good movie - Carpe Diem (seize the day)!"
When I first started working, there was a man in the office next to my department who was getting ready to retire. He was rapidly approaching 65 and was not a happy camper. Congress had just authorized by a certain date, people could work until 70 if they wanted to - and he wanted to. Unfortunately, his birthday came at the wrong time and his 65th birthday would be his last day at the company.
There was a retirement get together with the usual cake and coffee. He figured now that he had to retire, he would get this nasty cough looked at by the doctor. A heavy smoker, the cough was getting his way of enjoying a good smoke. Once reconciled that he was not going to be working any more, he had plans for the future. Big plans. Unfortunately, the nagging cough was more than just a little something. By the time he was 65 1/2, he was dead of advanced lung cancer. His future had no future.
We do all of us, think about the future - our future. We plan for it. We sometimes put things off in our lives until a later date - a date in the future. But what if the future never comes? I just delivered a meal to my next door neighbor who is trying to fight his way back from a second round of chemo. He has stage 4 lung cancer, and right now the cancer is winning the day.
My neighbor is just a couple years older than I, and he has many plans for his future. Hunting with his long time deer hunting team, fishing, playing with grand kids, even cutting his vast lawn with his John Deere. Talking to his wife just a bit ago as I was delivering the meal, she told me his future might not have a future. His body might not be able to stand any more chemo.
In the faith, we are taught to live for today. Tomorrow might never come. Amen to that! I had a conversation a few years ago with a good friend of mine about death. I told my friend it is my belief that many who die suddenly do not have a clue when they get out of bed it be their last day on Earth. In fact, dying is the last thing on most people's minds. It is not in the script. And yet a car accident, a plane crash, a bad fall, a madman, a terrorist, a heart attack, a stroke, whatever - can change everything in an instant.
Why mention this on a Friday afternoon, right on the doorstep of a well deserved weekend? A reminder. At any time, at any place, our future might not have a future. So to quote a famous line from a pretty good movie - Carpe Diem (seize the day)!
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