Rev David Felten

Click the right arrow to play: You Can Smell ‘em Coming

Rev. David Felten

Click the right arrow to play: Formers Not Served Here  05.08.11

May 8, 2011

Copy of sermon text here.

“Looking for a Bigger Jesus” Workshop on Saturday

For many people, Jesus’ primary feature is that of being gentle. Although this flies in the face of the Gospel, it is preserved in songs and artwork which depict the kind of passive savior who is unlikely to inspire radical discipleship. In this workshop, John Bell will engage participants in looking at moments in the Gospels which provide a much fuller understanding of Jesus and at songs from far and near which are an antidote to the more soporific ditties that are common fare in most worshipping communities. Music will include songs from the Iona Community and beyond — including yet-to-be-published compositions!

Sunday morning at The Fountains

Bell will be preaching at 9am and 11:15 am, plus Q&A at 10:15 at  The Fountains

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Christmas at The Fountains is always a unique and memorable experience. From our annual Christmas Eve musical gift exchange and improvised reflections to the live nativity and  outstanding music, the warmth of candlelight and Silent Night tops off each Christmas Eve celebration.

With Christmas Day being a Sunday this year, we’re coming together for one service at 10am where we’ll enjoy special music, a moving Christmas story, and a time of giving thanks for our many gifts.

Join us on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day to celebrate the coming of the Christ child and the ancient echoes of the Triumph of the Unconquered Sun.

Times to note:

December 24th

• 4pm: Lighting of the Luminaria
• 4:15 Children’s Nativity Rehearsal
• 5pm Family Service
• 6pm Potluck for Participant Leaders
• 7pm Festival Celebration of Lessons and Carols

December 25th

• 10am Celebration of Christmas Day

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Please Note: If you’re planning on being raptured on May 21st, please make sure your pledge to the church is paid up before you go!

]]> http://www.thefountainsumc.org/holidays-special-events/feed/ 1 http://www.thefountainsumc.org/a-multi-faith-campus/ http://www.thefountainsumc.org/a-multi-faith-campus/#comments Sun, 26 Dec 2010 03:24:39 +0000 david http://www.thefountainsumc.org/?p=1177 The Fountains is putting our “Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors” slogan into practice.

With a commitment to interfaith dialogue and understanding, we’ve sought out and opened our doors to a number of other faith traditions — and not just at our Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, but year-round. We are proud to share the campus of The Fountains with three other faith communities representing Reform Judaism and Kadampa Buddhism. Click below to find out more about our multi-Faith campus partners:

Congregation Beth Hagivot (Reform Judaism) Friday nights. See website for dates and times.

Clear Light Buddhist Center (Kadampa Buddhism) Monday nights. See website for dates and times.

Rev. David Felten

Words of Wisdom: Matthew 6.19-21

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How to be a Good Dead Person, Part 3:
Leaving a Legacy
October 24, 2010

Welcome to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ swan-song sermon that includes the Beatitudes, the Golden Rule, the Lord’s Prayer and stack of other sayings that even if you didn’t know they came from the Sermon on the Mount, you’d have a hunch that they sounded awfully “Jesus-y.” This is a part of the sermon where Jesus rips into the “hypocrites” in his midst for their self-centered piety. It seems like a pretty practical “you can’t take it with you” message culminating with the famous bumper sticker: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” But if the goal is to store up treasures “in heaven,” how exactly does one go about doing that?

TEXT & PRAY

A lawyer named Strange died, and his friend asked the tombstone maker to inscribe on his tombstone, “Here lies Strange, an honest man, and a lawyer.” The inscriber insisted that such an inscription would be confusing, for passers by would tend to think that three men were buried under the stone. However he suggested an alternative: He would inscribe, “Here lies a man who was both honest and a lawyer.” That way, whenever anyone walked by the tombstone and read it, they would be certain to remark: “That’s Strange.”

We’ve been talking the last few weeks about how to be a good dead person, and the first two facets of being limited and planning for the end of life have required planning. This step is the only one that you can achieve without any planning, and that’s leaving a legacy. Whether you plan for it or not, you’re leaving one. The question is, what kind of legacy do you want to leave?

Perhaps one of the most famous posings of this question comes in Dickens’s Christmas Carol. Remember? The ghost of Jacob Marley comes back to visit Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is given a glimpse of what his fate will be, what his legacy will be if he doesn’t change.

In our passage today, Jesus does his best Jacob Marley impersonation: “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” But what exactly is he talking about?

Let’s see, what are treasures on earth? Anything that is vulnerable to being ruined, lost, broken or stolen. What does he mean by storing up? Well, he’s not talking about prudent stewardship here, but about our tendency to hoard things, to make an idol out of stuff.

So, we’re supposed to store up treasures in heaven, which means give more money to the church – right? Wrong! Possible, yes, but think of it this way: what can you do to invest in priorities that are inspired by your commitment as a disciple of Jesus?

Think of it this way: in life, most of us require some kind of assistance along the way, be it physical, financial or spiritual. Perhaps a local church or food bank supplied meals during a tough time. Like me, maybe you were given a scholarship that made going to college possible. Maybe you’ve been the recipient of an act of kindness, a participant in a program for personal enrichment, the beneficiary of medical research, given sanctuary in a domestic abuse shelter, or been inspired by a quality arts or music program.

And how are many of these programs and advances possible? In large part through the generosity of those who laid up their treasures beyond themselves, of people who have chosen to leave a legacy that reflects their priorities and passions.

Earlier this year, our family went to visit Laura’s 99 year old Aunt Attalee in Northern Arkansas. We try to get there at least once a year, but this year was different. Attalee has moved to an assisted living center and her house in Sidney was all packed up and ready for the auction: car, house, and all its contents.

When visiting Attalee at the nursing home, she took the kids aside and told them, “I want you to go into the house and pick out whatever you want.” The kids picked out a painting, a ceramic dog, and a necklace – all meaningful reminders of their Aunt, small reminders of the legacy of love their aunt has left them.

That’s certainly one way to be remembered. It’s intimate and personal. But there are other ways, too. And over the years, it’s been a constant surprise to me as to who does – and who doesn’t – do the work to leave a legacy beyond their immediate family, say to their alma mater or their church or other non-profit.

LEAVE A LEGACY is a public awareness campaign designed to inspire people just like us to make a charitable bequest. Bequests are just one type of “planned gift” that can be made to the organizations you value.
When it comes to funding for efforts to make a positive difference in the world, gifts large and small are important. Charitable giving is not only for the wealthy! People from all walks of life can “make a difference in the lives that follow” through all kinds of giving.

Video Clip: http://www.leavealegacy.org/ultimategift_video.asp

According to research conducted ten years ago, only around eight percent of people chose to support the causes and organizations that are making an important difference in their community with planned giving.

“Well I have children and relatives! Shouldn’t I leave my entire estate to them?” No! The truth is that, depending on the current tax laws, leaving a gift to charity in your will may reduce the tax burden on your heirs significantly. In fact, I’m not an expert, but I’ve been told that the tax laws are changing January 1st and if you’re planning on dying soon, do it before December 31st! You should consult with a financial advisor or attorney for the details, but the bottom line is this: there are nearly 300 million Americans, and around two million of us die each year. In 2004, only 42 percent of adults had wills at all, a five percent drop since 2000.

Most people say they want to leave some sort of legacy in life. Even if they don’t say it, we all want to be remembered — because being remembered means that our lives had meaning and significance to someone other than ourselves.

The sad thing is most people don’t leave a legacy other than having not left a legacy. The largest group gets remembered through occasional visits to their tombstone and materials left in their will (i.e. money, house, etc) which sooner than you think gets depleted.

But there is a way to guarantee eternal life, as it were, to live on posthumously through something you created or left behind. HOW? Talk to a specialists, including your attorney, a financial advisor or someone at your favorite non-profit organization. Learn as much as you can about various charitable gift options and the kinds of gifts that make the most sense for both you, your favorite charity or non-profit, and your EGO! Let’s not forget about that.

1. your will can direct a gift to your church or other non-profit. Simply bequeath a specific sum of money or choose to leave a percentage of your estate or the balance remaining after the bequests are made to your heirs.
2. an endowment protects the principal of your gifts. Annual distributions are made in your family’s name for your intended purpose.
3. In addition to a will, you might want to consider a trust or gift annuity. In exchange for your gift, you will receive a lifetime income, tax benefits and the ability select the charities that benefit from your gift
4. You can establish a memorial fund in your family name or that of another person, with the income to be used as you direct.

The important thing is for you to DO it. “But if I start planning that way, it means I have to admit that I’m going to die.” Get over it. You’re going to die. The question is, are you going to be a GOOD dead person?

John Wallach was an award-winning author and journalist. He was not a rich man, but in 1993 founded a group called Seeds of Peace to provide an opportunity for the children of war to plant the seeds for a more secure future. You can read a little bit more on the front of the worship guide.

Despite all of his awards and accomplishments, one of his most lasting achievements is one that has out-lived him and continues to grow in effectiveness and impact on the world: Seeds of Peace started with 46 Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian teenagers in 1993 and has expanded to include young leaders from South Asia, Cyprus and the Balkans. Its leadership network now encompasses over 4,300 young people.

Beginning with a summer Camp in Maine the program continues through year-round regional dialogue meetings, conferences, workshops, educational and professional opportunities, allowing participants to develop lasting empathy, respect, and confidence, equipping them with the communication and leadership skills necessary to advance peace (and effectively undermining the previous generation’s resistance to reconciliation and coexistence). John Wallach has left a legacy. What about you?

It doesn’t have to be huge, but with all our efforts combined, it can make an amazing difference in the lives of real people.

This summer, our annual conference speaker told us that there were two major reasons people don’t go out of their way to leave money to a non-profit (their churches in particular). The first reason is that the church doesn’t ask, the second is that people don’t trust the church to handle their money effectively. Well, today, I’m asking. And as far as trust is concerned, we have worked hard at The Fountains to get everything in order financially to be good stewards of your gifts. On top of that, we have our own Foundation set up through the Desert Southwest Foundation to serve as an endowment fund and to receive your donations.

The world, it is a-changin’, and churches are being closed all over the country because of it. If we don’t get creative with funding, churches and the non-profits we support are going to be more and more crippled.

So, we’re doing our part to help inspire you in laying up some treasure in heaven. On Wednesday, Nov. 10th at 4pm, we’re sponsoring the first of several get togethers with a representative from the DSC Foundation to help you see ways you can leave a legacy. Wednesday, Nov. 10th at 4pm.

And if you look at the net worth of the people in this church, I don’t see how there would be any problem for us to set as a goal in 2020, to have $1,000,000 in our foundation. What will it support? Someone in this church thinks summer camp scholarships makes a difference in the lives of kids – can we fund a scholarship for every kid at our church? Someone here thinks Stephen Ministry makes a difference in people’s lives and has funded all the training so far – can that be funded for years to come? Someone here thinks that it would be important to reach out to at-risk kids in Fountain Hills with healthy food and constructive activities during school breaks – can we make that happen?

Stream of Thought: What’s your legacy?

What can you do to invest in priorities that are inspired by your commitment as a disciple of Jesus?

This is an amazingly generous congregation. Through our worship guide this month, we let you know that one of our youth needed $1200 more dollars to go with her civics class on an honors tour of Washington, D.C. One of you wrote a check on the spot last week.

There are examples left and right of individuals’ generosity in using their resources in doing good things through The Fountains, but Jesus suggested that doing good things included laying up treasures in heaven – and I hope, that, for you, that means thinking about more than today, and looking forward towards leaving a legacy.

Some of you know that I like doing the occasional Letterman-style Top Ten list, so today I’d like to close with the “Top ten reasons to leave a legacy:”

1. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.
2. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.
3. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.
4. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.
5. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.
6. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.
7. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.
8. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.
9. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.
10. You’ll continue to make a difference after you’re gone.

How can you be a good dead person? Leave a legacy. Can you picture this with me? Jesus coming on the screen saying, “I’m Jesus Christ, and I approved this message.”

Original material © 2010 David M. Felten

Rev. David Felten

Words of Wisdom: Ecclesiastes 3.1-4

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For Everything a Season
October 17, 2010

The author Ecclesiastes, otherwise known as “Qoheleth”, aims to find out how to ensure that one benefits in life. However, any possible advantage in life is destroyed by the inevitability of death. As such, Qoheleth concludes that life (and everything) is senseless. In light of this conclusion, Qoheleth advises his audience to make the most of life, to seize the day, for there is no way to secure favorable outcomes in the future. “Utterly senseless, everything is senseless!”

The word translated “senseless,” heh’bel, literally means vapor, breath. Qoheleth uses it metaphorically, and its precise meaning is extensively debated. Older English translations often render it vanity, but in modern usage “vanity” has come to mean “self-pride” and really lost its original meaning of emptiness. Other translations include meaningless, absurd, fleeting or senseless. Some translations use the literal rendering “vapor of vapors” and then leave the interpretation to the reader. Bottom line: everything in life is fleeting – even life. Enjoy it while it lasts.

TEXT and PRAY

Jeremy Greaves is a friend of mine on Face Book. He’s the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Darwin, Northern Territories. Yesterday he posted: “just buried “Goldie” the goldfish. “do you want to say any words Hannah?” (his young daughter) “Nah… there’s plenty of other goldfish out there.” … if only all funerals were so straightforward. Amen to that.

Don Messer is a Methodist theologian who edited a book a few years ago entitled “How Shall We Die?” and in it tells the story of his own father’s death:

Without warning, my father was diagnosed with incurable liver cancer. Three weeks later he died. Just as he had taught his family how to live, he spent his final days demonstrating to us how to die. His instructions were clear: No expensive life prolonging but ultimately futile treatments. No heroic actions. Bring the family home from around the country so love, hugs, and kisses could be exchanged. Take care of mother. No intravenous feeding, once the family could no longer care for him at home and he would have to return to the hospital.

Death for dad came swiftly and he departed this life with dignity and grace. A few days later family and friends gathered in our small prairie town church to sing, remember, and encourage one another.

As a chaplain at Good Samaritan and as a pastor for the past 20 years I have been with families as they faced the inevitable death of a loved one. I have been in the Intensive Care Unit as families work through the painful decision to discontinue the use of a respirator because all the tests indicate that there is no hope of recovery and that there is no consciousness in their loved one. I’ve been there when the machines have been turned off. I have visited church members in hospice facilities where they know they are dying and where they have decided that they do not want to go on just existing so they have stopped eating and drinking on their own and they have waited in peace for what the book of Ecclesiastes says is the time to die.

As a pastor, as a chaplain and out of my conversations with church members filling out their own living will and deciding on advanced directives that refuse any extraordinary measures from health care professionals, I remember the story of the death of Terri Schiavo from about five years ago.
It was a complicated and emotional story about the end of life and about family conflicts and misunderstandings and family pain – and it’s not rare. There are perhaps as many as 25,000 people in our country – right now – who are in a “persistent vegetative state.” They have no awareness, no consciousness, no feeling. They seem awake but only have reflexes and exhibit random crying or smiling; but they have no consciousness. “They” are not there.

This definition is part of the emotional response that so many people had to Mrs. Schiavo. In old video pictures, some people say they saw awareness, but her physicians had been saying for several years that that was physically impossible, that there was absolutely no hope of her getting better or recovering or becoming conscious or aware.

Her parents held on to the hope that the reflexive actions they saw were signs of consciousness. We would all want to hope that a daughter or son could get better—even after we have seen them for fifteen years in that condition. It would still be hard to let go of a loved one if we were hoping for some chance of recovery and if we could still go and visit what to others looked like the shell of that person.

But if there’s a silver lining in the media coverage of this tragedy, it’s that it gave many pause to think, that if we ourselves were in the same state as Mrs. Schiavo — no consciousness, existing in persistent vegetative state for fifteen years, no hope of recovery – that we would choose for nature to take its course and for the feeding tube to be removed.

80% of people polled said they would NOT choose to be continued on that kind of artificial life support. Yet less than 30% of us have signed living wills that tell our doctors and our family what we wish for ourselves should we come to that situation.
Sorry for the statistics, but they speak volumes. Of the over 6000 people who die every day in the US, two-thirds will involve some element of decision that the family has to make. Decisions about respirators being turned on or off; about feeding tubes inserted or removed; and all kinds of other difficult issues.

The phrase “life support” raises an entirely different set of questions: what is life? When someone’s mind has been as severely compromised as Terri Schiavo’s had been and they have no consciousness for fifteen years, is that “life” or is that just an existence? How do you define life? We don’t want to become a society where we just dispose of someone who does not appear to have the kind of usefulness we think is important – but neither do we want to mindlessly use all the technology at our disposal to simply fend off the inevitable.

And whether it’s the life-and-death choices people have to make everyday to the extraordinary conditions portrayed in a film like “Million Dollar Baby” where the main character decides she does not want to live in her current condition and decides to end her life, where does our faith make a difference in these questions? How can we think ethically and responsibly as Christians about the end of life? Let me make a few observations:

– The Bible is more comfortable with death and with the inevitable end of life than many of us are. Our book says, life is fleeting, life is temporary, and life is very fragile. We are here only for a while. The psalmist says that from the point of view of God, people are like flowers that are here for a while and then are gone. Or people are like grass that is here for a while and then is gone. Each one of us has a beginning and an end and though we live in times when medical science has been able to prolong that time and postpone that end through technology, there will still be an end for each of us in this life. As author Leo Buscaglia says, “no one gets out of this world alive.” And then Woody Allen chimes in, “It’s not that I’m afraid of dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

There’s a Muslim legend about a servant of wealthy merchant who goes to the marketplace in Baghdad to acquire provisions. There, he has the most frightening experience of his life. He rushes home to his master’s house, all the color drained from his face, and he says, “Master, I was in the market and there I saw Death and when Death saw me, he raised his hand to strike me. Oh master, I know he wants to take me. Please, please give me your fastest horse so that I can flee.” And his master says, “Well, where will you go?” And he says, “I will go all the way to Samaria. Death will never find me in Samaria.” And so the master gives him his fastest steed and the servant takes off for Samaria to hide. Well, later that afternoon the merchant went into the market and he too saw Death and so he went up and he enquired of Death, “Why did you raise your hand to strike my servant, earlier today?” To which, Death replied, “Oh, I meant him no harm at that moment. In fact, I raised my hand as gesture of surprise because I did not expect to find him here because I have an appointment with him tonight in Samaria.” You and I cannot outrun death. There is a time to be born and a time to die.

The other thing the Bible says is that each life is very important, each life is precious, and each life will be received back into the God who is the source of life. In the words of the apostle Paul, we may stand at the graves of our loved ones and weep, but we do not have to weep in despair because we trust God to love us and care for us in death as well as in life. Our historic faith claims that God is bigger than death and that death does not have the final word. And whether you hold to that belief or are more comfortable simply saying, “I don’t know,” our challenge is to decide – and it’s a decision – to embrace death with dignity.

So what would it mean in your life and in your family to embrace death with dignity? Here are some suggestions:

Do you have a medical power of attorney? Have you thought through what your wishes are for the end of life? You need a living will, you need an advance directives –
An advance directive is your life (and death) on your terms. Whether you’re 18 or 80, documenting your wishes today means your family won’t have to make heart-wrenching decisions later.

We all need to talk with family, friends, our doctor, your pastor. Know the options. Decide what’s right for you. And then put it in writing. Carry an advanced directive card in your wallet. Let people know where your paperwork is.

Terri Schiavo’s case was a relatively easy one. Her cortex, that part that made her Terri, had been destroyed 15 years prior. Despite the belief of her tortured parents, all that remained were unconscious reflexes. What brought her story to our attention wasn’t medical disagreement; it was family conflict. Mix that with political opportunism by politicians and manipulation by those with a particular religious agenda, and the tragedy was made epic.

What made the whole thing difficult in the extreme was not knowing definitively what Terri herself truly wanted. She had left no written directive. It took Michael Schiavo five years to finally lose hope that Terri would recover. Every one of us, if facing that reality, would want to do everything we possible could to save the one we love. Who wants to make the decision — the unalterable decision — that will inevitably take the life of a spouse, a parent, or child? Yet many of us have had to make that decision, and many of us here will face it at some point. If we don’t want to live like that, then how do we want to live, and have we told that or clearly written that to our loved ones, so that they know our wishes?

Friends of mine had a knock on their door at 2am one morning this week. It was the Phoenix Police Department telling them that their 40-something daughter had been found dead in her hotel room while traveling on a business trip. Their daughter was single and left no will and no directions – so on top of the shock of dealing with their daughter’s death, her parents also have to make all the arrangements from contacting a funeral home, to finding all her paperwork in her home on the East Coast, dealing with insurance companies, bank accounts, mortgage information, automobile loan, and what to do with her dog.

Usually, it’s the other way around – it’s left to the kids to figure all this stuff out for the parents. But either way, what does it say about us when we’re so afraid of the inevitable (or so sure that we’re never going to die) that we leave all these matters for someone else to figure out?

I preached a sermon similar to this at my first church – and included a check list of paperwork to have all in one place, a list of accomplishments and information you’d like in your obituary, AND a form to fill out about your funeral – what songs you’d like, what scripture or poetry you’d like, where you’d like donations to go.

One woman got up and stormed out. Later she sent a letter withdrawing her membership saying, “I don’t come to church to be told that I’m going to die!” Well, honey, you’re not going to be reminded many other places – until it’s too late.

I have sat with too many children, planning a funeral, who say, “I don’t have a clue what he or she would have wanted.” I’ve been to the funerals of too many friends where, clearly, the people planning the service didn’t know a single thing about the deceased’s wishes, beliefs, or preferences – which made the funeral all the more painful because along with the grief of loss came the frustration that the person’s memorial service didn’t reflect anything about who they really were.

So, I’m here to tell you, it is not just basic personal responsibility, but a sign of spiritual maturity to sit down and figure out all these details NOW. To do so gives us pause, with Ecclesiastes, to think about how finite life is, what’s ultimately important to us, and how we want to be remembered – AND it’s a final gift to our loved ones, who won’t have to worry about figuring out what we want or don’t want.

Stream of Thought: Do it now.

In the Gnostic gospel, The Sayings of Jesus, Jesus tells Mary Magdelene: “Death is not the enemy. Live life in joy and welcome death in peace. Then will you be one with me.”

Live life in joy! And may that joy be informed, in part, by the realization that, in spite of all our medical advances, the death rate is still 100%. The Bible tells us how important it is for each of us to acknowledge that and come to terms with it and, I think, make some plans for leading up to it and for what we’d like in its aftermath. There is a time to be born and a time to die – and in the meantime, may our joy in life be grounded in the maturity of planning to be a good dead person.

Original material © 2010 David M. Felten

Rev. David M. Felten

Words of Wisdom: Romans 14.7-9

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How to Be a Good Dead Person #1: Limited
October 10, 2010

Unique among Paul’s authentic letters in that it’s the only one written to people who were not part of a church he’d started. It was a “cold call,” an intro for the occasion of Paul’s arrival in Rome (uncertain as to when). As best scholars can tell, it may have been written from Corinth, maybe around 58?

The overall content is really the most comprehensive statements of Paul’s theology, wrestling with concepts of righteousness and Christianity’s relationship with its Jewish roots.

Incidentally, people are often confused about Paul’s attitude toward women – the quote from Corinthians that “women should be silent in churches” is not Paul, but written by someone later (probably trying to synch the real Paul with the writings of the author of Timothy, who is pretending to be Paul to get his message heard). Part of the proof is here in Romans, showing the respect Paul had for women. Chapter 16 is an intro of the bearer of this letter, who was a leader in the church in Cenechrae (the port of Corinth), and charged with not only carrying the letter to the churches of Rome, but with reading it and explaining it to people – and her name was Phoebe, a woman Paul trusted in leadership and in the critical task of furthering his message.

This particular passage today is in the middle of an argument about judging one another. Paul is making the point that we’re all in this life together and should measure our “judgments” not against one another but in relationship to Jesus.
Romans 14.7-9
7We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

TEXT AND PRAY

Limited
I am riding on a limited express,
one of the crack trains of the nation.
Hurtling across the prairie
into blue haze and dark air
go fifteen all-steel coaches
holding a thousand people.
(All the coaches shall be scrap and rust
and all the men and women laughing in the diners and sleepers shall pass to ashes.)
I ask a man in the smoker where he is going and he answers: “Omaha.”

– Carl Sandburg

Nothing too hidden here. This is Sandburg’s spin on Ecclesiastes’ “All is vanity” ethos: Ecclesiastes proclaims that everything we do is inherently “vain,” “temporary,” “transitory,” or “fleeting,” (depending on translation) because everyone, wise or foolish, dies in the end.

Sandburg’s father worked for the railroad when steam engines were still in use, so these new steel “limiteds” were the equivalent of the Concorde to us. Still, rather than ride along in awe, Sandburg writes of the imminent destruction of all things material, including the mortal coils of his fellow passengers. He goes on to have a little fun at one of these men’s expense with his question, “where are you going?” – which, of course, the man answers geographically: “Omaha” – when Sandburg meant something much deeper than that.

It’s not something we think about often, but maybe one of the greatest gifts we’ve been given in this life is that of being “limited.”
We’re all limited in various ways, but, for all of us, the greatest limitation is that of death.

And to that, there’s only one thing to say: thank God we’re going to die! Without death, life would be a meaningless drudgery going on and on and on. With a cut-off, with an expiration date, we are motivated to make as much of life as we can, while we can.

Sandburg’s “Limited” plays on 3 kinds of limited:

1) train
2) life
3) consciousness of individuals
a. of death
b. shallowness

And because thinking about it can be overwhelming we, often opt for superficiality – we try finding meaning and purpose in all sorts of things and experiences. BUT, what ultimately motivates us to find meaning and purpose is Death. We avoid talking about it, but there it is.

Case in point: are you depressed?
Then strike up a relationship with your end – acknowledging your end can be a powerful motivator. For a lot of people, talking to someone about retirement plans is a very clarifying experience; life seems more finite, the end seems a lot closer, and the need to make plans greater.
Poets speak of Death as a great lover, full of mystery – and as long as you struggle with the mystery, you’ll get glimmers of meaning.

A Brush with Death brings a certain clarity:
1) Wesley on a ship with Moravians
2) Trauma Room puts one in touch with own mortality; fragility of life.

Coming face to face with death, you get a clear sense of what a great motivator it can be.

We’ve all heard the expression, “No Pain, No Gain” Did you know the first version of it was “coined” by Ben Franklin? “Those things that hurt instruct.”
So, we deliberately set up forums that challenge us learn or be productive, be it school or work or home — we learn best when we have “DEADline.”

Do you remember the movie, “Joe vs. the Volcano”? It’s a tongue in cheek parable about the meaning of life starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Joe is a hypochondriac, always sick, leading a dreary life. He’s diagnosed with a “brain cloud” and given 6 months to live. So, he quits his job and takes an offer to jump into a volcano to appease some Polynesian natives – hey, why not? I’m gonna die anyway, why not make my death have some kind of meaning. Once he reconciles himself to the idea that he’s going to die, he goes on a great adventure where, among other things, he discovers how to live.

At one point in his journey to the island, a huge storm comes up and breaks up his boat (very Jungian!). All seems lost, until…

VIDEO: Scene on the raft – “Thank you, God, for my life”

Not only does death motivate us to DO something, but it is a stimulus to eliminate our narcissistic self:
What’s the point in preserving self? We’re going to die anyway. Joe has no fear of sacrificing himself because he knows he’s going to die. In that knowledge, he can lift his eyes off of himself and give his life away.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s EXACTLY what Jesus is saying: dying to self, eliminating self-centeredness lowers our fear of death, helps us to live.

Stephen Levine is a hospice therapist who for 20 years accompanied people and their families over the threshold of death. He saw in so many patients with a terminal diagnosis a profound life change. It was such an amazing change, that he decided to try it himself. He gave himself a date, one year away, on which he would die, then lived his life as if that was it. The resulting book, A Year to Live : How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last is a profound reminder of what is important and how to prioritize things in your life.

It is only when we come to terms with our death that we can make full use of our lives.
Every day there are opportunities for us to learn how to die – from the little deaths of betrayal, lost relationships, and loss of all kinds, we can choose to transform ourselves every day.

For me as a pastor, Ash Wednesday is one of the most powerful days on the Christian calendar. I get to smudge ashes on peoples foreheads and tell them, “You’re going to die” — how nice! But how often in ritual seriousness are we reminded that we have a deadline? We’re so busy trying to put it off, avoid it, not think about it. And Paul reminds us, “Hey, whether you live or die, do so for God” It’s not ABOUT you. It’s about giving yourself wholeheartedly to the good of others – and like Joe, when you know you’re going to die anyway, what’s a little risk along the way?

So here’s the News Flash for today: We’re all going to die.

I don’t mean to be coarse, because for some of us here, this is not news and a struggle every day. But for most of us, we need to be reminded – if only to be jolted into remembering the preciousness of life, the fragility of life, and that we’ve been given the gift of life for one purpose:
To give it away.

So, If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

At one point in Joe vs. the Volcano, Joe and Patricia are having a discussion about what gives life meaning and Patricia says, “I believe in myself.” To which Joe says, “When I think about myself, I get bored.”

Patricia is sad about this and remarks, “My father says almost the whole world’s asleep. Everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says only a few people are awake. And they live in a state of constant, total amazement.”

It’s interesting to read comments online about the things that wake people up. With Joe vs. the Volcano, I read at least one post from a guy who saw the movie and was so moved, that the next day he quit his job, set out to follow his dream, and never looked back. And there were others, as well, who “got” the message. In fact, the screenwriter wrote the movie as a reflection on his feelings after his own near-death experience. Facing his own death shook him out of his stupor and gave him a moment of clarity that has invigorated his life ever since.

“The whole world’s asleep. Everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. Only a few people are awake. And they live in a state of constant, total amazement.”

How did they get there? By remembering the preciousness of life, the fragility of life, and that we’ve been given the gift of life for one purpose: To give it away.

How can we be a good dead person? By being awake today!

Stream of Thought: Wake up!!

By not being afraid of death – but instead seeing it as a motivator, an incentive, a reminder to not be afraid to truly live, to give our lives away!

Even if it takes dwelling on the reality of our death just for a moment, let us give thanks for this incredible gift of life. Let us not be “limited” in our perceptions, but freed to see what’s truly important in life.

“Dear God, whose name I do not know – thank you for my life.”

Original material © 2010 David M. Felten

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Pilgrims from The Fountains on the Mount of Olives overlook, Jerusalem in the background. March, 2011