ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - 1

ONE HEARTBEAT       AWAY -  1
                                       (Mark Cahill's book)

   The pictures used are
     not in Mark's book.


Introduction

He who provides for this life but takes no care for eternity is wise for a moment but a fool forever.  -John Tillotson.

It is said that a presidential candidate  must be very careful in selecting a running mate , in case they are elected . At any moment , a vice president is just one heartbeat away from becoming president of the United States of America - the most powerful position in the world.

The truth is that each one of us at any moment can be one heartbeat away  from eternity. Your heart beats about 100,000 times in a 24 hour period . One day one of those beats will be your last.

Does that thought concern you?  Most people naturally have a fear of death. Comedian Robins made light of it by joking " Death is nature's way of saying 'your tables ready.' "  Actor David Niven said, " I won't go. I'll kick and scream and make a terrible fuss."  And Woody Allen said, "I'm not afraid to die . I just don't want to be there when it happens."

And then there's the bumper sticker that says " Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down ."  Yet death will eventually  happen to each one of us, and  we will be somewhere for all of eternity.  Three hundred million years from now where will you be?

It is something all of us consider at some point in our lives. Whether it is an illness, a bumpy plane ride,  a car crash, the death of a friend or of a famous person like Johnny Carson, Dale Earnheardt, or the pope; or a catalysmic event like  September  11, the Indian ocean tsunami or other natural disasters - some circumstances will turn our thoughts to what happens to us when we leave this planet?

 For that matter, why  are we even on this planet? What is the purpose of  our existence?

Many  people think it is just to go to school, party a little, find a job, get married, have kids, attend  sporting events, watch their hair turn grey, (or turn loose), retire, play golf and die.

But is that the reason we breathe every day? Isn't there more to this journey of life than living and dying?  How can we know whether our  time on earth has been successful? 

Some might say they had a good life if they stayed out of  jail and didn't hurt anyone. Others define success as having something - or someone named after them. Maybe to you, a good life is  if your kids don't get into too much trouble or if  you never have to worry about your finances,

What is most important to you in this lifetime?  Is it one of the above-mentioned things ?  I asked this question of a man at an airport and he answered that his family was the most important  thing to him, which is a typical answer to this question. 

I then asked him what would be the most inportant thing to him on the day he died. When he again answered it would be his family, I asked him what he meant. He explained that he wanted to ensure he left behind enough money to to take care of his family after he was gone.

"Wouldn't it be important," I suggested "to find out where you are going after you die, and for your family to join you  there someday?" 

His eyes widened and he said he had never thought about that before. 

Since we are all part of the ultimate statistic that ten out of ten people die , where we go when we die and who will be there with us are things we all should  think about. You will leave your body behind, but what about your soul?  If you believe there is something more to your existence than simply this life, you're in good company. According to a recent survey by the Barna Group eight in ten Americans believe in some sort of afterlife. And 79% agree that " every person has a soul that will live forever , either in God's presence or absence."



Next post  27th June 

This new post follows the same theme as its predecessor  "Where does your soul go when you die."