Between LifeWay Christian Bookstore and Cannon Cleveland Funeral Directors, the distance is 10.73 miles and 14 minutes.
Each of these mentioned companies I work for on a part-time basis and very much enjoy my time when there.
Recently I have been considering the similarities and the differences between the two companies.
One business, centers on life, even in the name, yet emphasizes someone’s death, Christ’s, which we celebrate.
The other business, centers on death and emphasizes someone’s life. In fact, one of the first things you see as you enter Cannon Cleveland Funeral Home are the words, “Every Life Has A Story…Celebrate It.”
Interesting…
With each business, the service provided and the product distributed is the same, hope and comfort. The additional services each company offers or products they provide comes with the hope and comfort, no extra charge.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to work at both. What separated life and death for me yesterday? 10.73 miles and 14 minutes. A small amount of time.
As is our life.
We hear life described as a blink, one inhaled and exhaled breath, or a passing shadow.
Yet, we go into our day today already planning our day tomorrow.
Psalm 144:4 says, “Man is like a mere breath. His days are like a passing shadow.”
Try this. Inhale and then exhale. In terms of an example of time, your life has begun and it has ended.
Take your hand and from left to right, in one smooth motion wave your hand in front of you. In that small range of motion you have lived and you have died when comparing that second to infinite time both before and after your life.
Yet we plan for the future and forego the present.
Earlier as I was writing, an email drops into my inbox at 6:31 a.m. God’s timing is so specific. Someone was emailing me related to yesterday’s blog entry regarding the unexpected.
Here is a copied and pasted excerpt of the person’s email and my response.
“I’ve had a lot of challenges this week. Those unexpected but I seem to have made it. Please say a prayer for me. Everything was going so great in my life and God had a different plan. I could really use a heads up, instead of so many hick ups.”
I love gut level honesty. And I love the phrase “hick ups and heads up.” Each of us experience the hick ups in life and want the heads up preceeding them, me included.
Here is a portion of my response to that email.
“There is a specific reason for your birth. As there is a specific purpose in
your death. (May it be many, many years from now.) Maybe, God is better defining
the reason for your birth as those around you are watching closer than you
think. Look at this way, this past week and the current week for you is changing
history. Which means you are historically significant.
People are reading your life as a book. And the best chapters are yet to come.”
Those you come in contact with today are reading your life as though it is a book.
Write today’s chapter so that it makes your life a page turner for tomorrow.
JHH
Leave a Reply