“I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.” (Psalm 146:2 NLT
Yesterday I spent the bulk of the afternoon with a collection of older ladies by way of the local library. We had each read the month’s selection “The End of Your Life Book Club” and had much to say about it. We picked the unusual biography apart; not foraging for flaws but searching out every last morsel the way one picks a rotisserie chicken clean.
“The End of Your Life Book Club” was written by a son sitting with his dying mother through most of her chemo treatments. They chose to redeem the time through reading and relating to the characters in their book selections. For them, literature provided an avenue to discuss the most delicate issues of life: suffering, injustice, disease, even death.
Of course, yesterday’s boom discussion was tender, a group of women (mothers, daughters, wives and sisters) tackling the tremendous topic of death. It was clear that most, if not all of us, had walked with a loved one quite near to the end, if not all the way to last breath.
I enjoyed this book, and perhaps morbidly, the discussion. As many of my readers know, I was with each of my parents as they made their transition from this life to the next. As a direct result of those experiences, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about dying well.
When it is my time, I want to go Him in a way that solidifies my family’s beliefs about a loving God. I’m not talking about the manner by which I die (cancer or a car crash or falling asleep and not waking up) but the mindset I maintain in that process. A believer’s assurance about the afterlife in the face of death is their last witness on earth. I am determined to pass that test.
The psalmist’s words this morning solidify my thinking. As little or as long as I remain living, I want to spend all my days praising God. I will praise God with my dying breath.
“Let all that I am praise the Lord; May I never forget the good things He does for me.” (Psalm 103:2 NLT)
Lord, please are then our resolve to love You right up through last breath. Let us live and die as a witness to Your goodness. May our friends and family know our surety in Your promises. May our passing bolster their confidence in You. Amen.