A couple of weeks ago I was forwarded a Guardian news article which really grabbed my attention titled "Top five regrets of the dying". The article quotes an Australian nurse who works in hospice care where people go in the final few weeks of their lives. What interested me is that the regrets are not related to achievement or influence, something most of us strive for all our lives. Instead the regrets are relationship orientated or connected with our hopes and dreams.
I think though that there is one very important regret missing from the list and that is not a regret related to the life that has been lived. In people's final moments they also have clarity that there is something they are going to.
Many people have heard evidence from people who have had a Near Death Experience (NDE), where a person has been brought back to life from death. Of course, the person hasn't finally died but nevertheless there is strong evidence that there is something more for each one of us.
I was reminded of the death bed testimonies I have heard, more recently of Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, responsible for the wonderful iPod, iPhones, iPads and Mac computers that their owners rave about. Steve's final words recorded by his sister in her eulogy were "OH WOW, OH WOW, OH WOW". Steve was aware that he was going on to something else.
Other final words include Thomas Edison's "It is beautiful over there" and perhaps more regretfully, Professor J.H. Huxley, a famous agnostic, "So, it's true".
We are now just over 7 weeks away from Easter. Jesus promised Resurrection Life to all those who believe in Him. I would say the most important thing Christ taught us about this life is to prepare for the next. Most people are investing their lives in what will soon be gone and all our achievements, wealth, influence and everything else we will leave behind matters little then. But our faith, our hope and our love is All That You Can't Leave Behind!
