May 2007

In the face of the Virginia Tech massacre, most of us consider our own mortality. How can we not? The truth is, any one of us can be here one minute, and gone the next. So, the real question is, how do you live your life in the face of that?

I know I'm not the only one asking this question, and the fact that I'm hurtling towards my 60th birthday is not the primary reason why. Unlike most of my peers, I've been in touch with my mortality since I was ten years old.

On New Year's Day in 1960, I woke with horrendous stomach pains. My stepfather, certain I had a run-of-the-mill tummy ache, determined that a dose of Casteroil should do the trick. Instead, it made my pain worse.

Concerned, my mother bundled me up and took me to the hospital. The emergency room was lightly staffed, it being a holiday, and we sat in the waiting room for what seemed like forever before anyone took notice of us. One young doctor, though, who'd hurried past us, doubled back. He said he didn't like the way I looked. He aked me a few questions, tenderly touched the spot that was hurting me most, was informed of the Casteroil treatment, and rushed me into an operatiing room. Not only did I have a severe case of appendicitus, but, thanks to the dose of Casteroil, my appendix was about to burst, spreading deadly toxins through my small body.

When I woke from the surgery, I learned that, had I reached the operating room fifteen minutes later, I'd be dead. From that day to this, I have been in touch with my mortality.

That close call has been a gift. Realizing how fragile my life is, I have wasted very little time on things that don't matter. I have gone after my dreams with a singular focus and energy. I have chosen the themes of my books with great consideration. I've given priority to fostering and maintaining healthy relationships. I have developed the habit of letting my loved ones know how much they matter to me. I have taken risks that I might not have, otherwise: traveling to distant places, living overseas, resigning from jobs that made me soul-sick without having another job to go to. Why? Because I know, better than most, that life is short and no one has a minute to waste. So my motto is, get right with God, get right with yourself, and get right with the world. And do it today, because today is all that's promised. Just ask the friends and relatives of the precious lost souls at Virginia Tech.