January 19th

...but nobody wants to die! It always shocks me how Christians can be scared of death. Don't get me wrong I don't want to be mangled, have my nose rearranged to the side of my face, or suffer any pain but the idea of death has never bothered me. Strangely I'm not one to think much about heaven. My Christian walk is motivated by pleasing God now. Heaven becomes a place where I will see God. Seems weird huh?

"Life’s greatest joy is the sure hope of heaven." - hadn't heard that one before. Pretty cool.

I feel the same way about death. It makes me wonder how hard we are supposed to fight things like cancer. I understand God gifts us with science and the ability to fight it, but I also see so many people who die trying to fight it for years. Those years seem wasted with chemo & radiation, instead of being filled with the "joy" he is talking about. Think about the time, treasure, and talent poured into treatment and it so often fails - or the cancer succeeds at bringing someone home, depending on how you look at it. I've known many patients in end-stage that say they wish the would have spent whatever short amount of time AND money they had left on a last hurrah with family & friends, rather than an only slightly longer time miserable full of chemo & radiation.

I pray I never have to make that decision for myself or anyone, but statistics tell me I have a 1/3 chance.

Thoughts?

I remember seeing several of my family members die of cancer, and I'm not sure I'd want to put a) myself, or more importantly b) my family through that. Keith's point is well taken... if God is calling us home, why fight it?

Easier said than done, I'm sure.