And In The End… Is The Beginning!

It’s time to plan your memorial service!

I did something this week that I have been intending to do for a long time. Something that every person should do. It wasn't really on my agenda for the week, but due to my wife’s concern and continuing request, I felt like I shouldn’t put it off any longer. So, what did I do? I wrote out my desires and the details of my memorial service. No, I do not anticipate dying soon. In fact, if I follow my parents' legacy, I will be well into my 90s before I leave this world. But we never know what will happen tomorrow. If you have not planned your memorial service, you owe it to your loved ones to do it now – no matter what age you are.

When you get to be my age, you know that your future years on this earth are way less than what you have already lived. And the older you get, the faster each year goes by. I don’t know how that works, but it is true. Each year seems to pass much more quickly than the last. I think that 2025 has only 300 days in it, and 2026 will have only 275!😊 Just ask anyone considered a “senior adult.” They will agree. Or you can listen to Pink Floyd’s 1973 song “Time.”

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
Sun is the same, in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time.

Hey, I really am old—an old guy who still loves and listens to rock music! No matter what they say, it ain’t dead yet! You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, well, you might just find you get what you need.” I still need to listen to the rock music of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

On Tuesday, I sat down at my computer and wrote out what I want my memorial service to look like – including the scripture passages I want to be read, the songs I want sung or played, and three of my poems that I want to be read. It is pretty daunting to think about your eventual death and memorial service. Not a fun thing to do! The focus I tried to instill in what I wanted in my memorial service was that it should not be about me. It should be about Jesus! He has been the focus of my life since I came to know him in a personal way in 1974.

One thing that I didn’t include, because it would be about me, was what I hope will be written as my epitaph. What phrase would I like to be written in my memory? How can your life be summed up in a few short words? It is impossible. But I’ll try. I would like my epitaph to read: “He loved Jesus more than anything!” That is my heart’s desire and my life’s goal since that day in 1974.

But I’m not gone yet! I am still “alive and kicking.” I don’t know how long, though. Nobody does! We are only promised the current breath we are breathing. With that thought, I leave you with a poem I wrote earlier this year. Until I breathe that last breath and step into the presence of my Lord, I want one more…

One More
One more minute,
To breathe the smell
Of morning coffee;
One more hour,
To read the words
Perfect on the page;
One more day,
To watch sunrise/sunset,
God’s bookends;
One more week,
To watch buds
Burst into blossoms;
One more month,
To watch one season
Change into another.
One more year,
To watch children
Marvelously mature.
One more decade,
To walk beside
My life’s mate,
The love of my life.

One more eternity
To sit in the presence
Of the Creator of time.

Thank you for reading. And if you haven’t planned your memorial service, please do so now. Your loved ones will appreciate not having to think about those details in the midst of their grief.