I’m not much of a hockey fan, but I do keep track of the Montreal Canadiens. That means, like fans of the other National Hockey League teams he coached (the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils), I was saddened by the death of Pat Burns in 2010.
I was impressed with the former cop’s tough-guy approach which rallied my Habs, then went on to rally the Leafs before finally winning a Stanley Cup with the Devils. Burns wasn’t an NHL player who was handed a coaching career; he worked his way up the ranks with determination.
He was weakened, gaunt and admitting the end was not far off when the Toronto Star’s Rosie Dimanno wrote a wonderful column about him. In it, she mentioned a recent interview in which Burns, 58, “spoke even about a newly realized appreciation for religious faith, because a person gets to thinking about God and prayer and the hereafter when staring straight into the abyss.”
This stuck with me, because the majority of my life is now behind me. That certainly changes a person’s perspective and I’m glad to have come to an “appreciation for religious faith” without having to stare into the “abyss” first.
That may not seem important to some folks. They’re busy with family or careers or pursuing fame or riches at the gambling table or extreme sports. The list can go on and on.
And yet, even in wealthy North America, with our massive healthcare systems and long lifespans – much longer than the age of Pat Burns – the end can come upon us with the shock of a shovel in the stomach.
I didn’t need such a shock to be reminded of that fact. I just read a ‘tweet’ on Twitter from Rick Warren (he wrote a book you may have heard of, The Purpose Driven Life) that simply stated, “When I’m tempted to be prideful, I just remind myself that I cannot even guarantee my next breath.”
That’s right, folks. It doesn’t matter if you’re battling cancer like Pat Burns did, or you’re a disgustingly young and fit triathlete. The end can come before you finish reading this sentence.
I think Jesus Christ (who most Christians believe is the son of God) knew this. That’s why, in the Bible, he told his followers, “Don’t hoard treasure down here, where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
It seems to me that if our “treasure” is in the right place, then the end won’t be an “abyss”. In fact, it won’t be the end at all. It will just be the end of the beginning.
Do you agree? Yes or no, post your response below and let’s have a conversation.
Frank's Cottage 
The end of the beginning . . . yes, indeed! Our treasures should always be in Heaven.
Blessings, Frank!
Thanks, as always, for reading and contributing to the conversation, Martha. 🙂
“The end can come before you finish reading this sentence.”
I know this too. Which is why I tell people to live their life for the fullest. Don’t wast one minute praying to a god who is not there, don’t spend one dime tithing to a church that offers false promises of an afterlife. Don’t walk one step in fear of what you cannot control or foresee.
Live today. Learn today. Love today.
The idea that people can’t live their life to the fullest while also being followers of Jesus Christ is simply ludicrous. And as a follower of Christ, I don’t walk a simple step in fear of what I can’t control or foresee. It saddens me deeply that you apparently think this way. 😦
If, in fact, the God they are worshiping does not exist, then certainly they are not living their life to the fullest. The time and money and emotional investment could have been spent on more worthwhile and personally rewarding pursuits.
You can only maximize for one variable. Christianity demands that one live their life in the worship and glorifying of God. While this does not preclude personal enjoyment and fulfillment, it does supersede it.
….this kind of harkens back to “Pascal’s Wager”, in which one might as well believe in God because there is no downside but their is a significant upside.
But since living according to external beliefs and doctrines does represent an investment and a sacrifice of one’s personal beliefs and desires, the investment is not negligible.
That’s fine. But the point of my last comment, and the essay, remains. And Mother Theresa was a Christ follower. So is Jean Vanier. Insisting that their lives (and the lives of so many others who follow Jesus and do amazing work) aren’t lived to the fullest is blatently unrealistic.
@sqlblindman
First: sure, Christians spend a couple minutes a day praying, and donate some of their salary. Both of those things have been proven to make people happier and more at peace, so I don’t catch your point there.
Second: what goal that’s completely outside of religion would be, in your mind, the ultimate worthwhile and personally rewarding pursuit? Money is proven to be unfulfilling and empty, as is fame. Love, even family, don’t last forever. Sex only makes you feel good for a moment. You’re not going to sit on your deathbed and wish you had spent more time advancing your career. You would call any sort of spiritual enlightenment false. Perhaps you would say helping others is the ultimate way to live, but it’s been proven that Christianity only increases your desire to do that.
Atheism says that there is no meaning to life, and that you can do whatever the heck you want because it all ends soon anyway. Christianity says that there is purpose to life, meaning and reason, and that you should live like there’s meaning, and that you should love others like God loves you. Which of the two do you think will contribute to a more meaningful life?