Rumours of My Death (click to comment)

Just this morning I was notified that I am dead. According to a fourth grader’s report, I was born in 1996 and died at the age of 10. Here’s more of what she wrote: “I am writing Phil Callaway because he is a great writer. He can always make me laugh no matter what for. I especially liked Laughing Matters. It are very funny. He is a dad with two kids. They are both girls.” Well, I certify her report entirely Fact-Free, which reminds me of many of my own school assignments.

But the truth is, I did have my annual physical last week. Yes, Doctor Mark probed, prodded and poked. Then he shook his head. “Well Phil,” he mused, “I give you about 30 years to live.”  Now that I have officially reached the age where candles on my birthday cake have been replaced by a giant sparklers, I have begun noticing funny tombstones.  Here are a few:

• On the grave of a pessimist: “I was afraid this would happen.”
• East Dalhousie Cemetery, Nova Scotia: “Here lies Ezekial Aikle Age 102 The Good Die Young.”
• “Here lies a man named Zeke. Second fastest draw in Cripple Creek.”
• “Let your wind blow free where’er you may be. Holding it in was the death of me.”

Here are three things I’d like my kids to remember about their dad:

1. That I loved them. A child can deal with anything in life when they know they are loved. Loved by God. Loved by their parents.
2. That I loved to laugh. They grew up in a home where difficult stuff happened. Yet through it all we learned that laughter is great medicine. As Jesus put it in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
3. That I loved God’s Word. I hope they remember that their Dad had a relationship with the living God. That when they talked with me they could tell I had been with Jesus.

I asked Rick Warren what he wanted to be remembered for. He quoted Acts 13:36, “David served God’s purpose in his generation, then he died.” “He did that which never changes in a world that’s always changing,” Rick said. “That’s what we’re here for.” What would I like on my tombstone? “He found God’s grace too amazing to keep to himself.”  I’d like to invest whatever days I have left spreading God’s grace, a little laughter, ample joy and hope. That’s my prayer for you.

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