For Whom the Bell Tolls…

There is a quote that has been passed down since 1624 that was written down by an English writer named John Donne. He writes,

“and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

What does this mean? It means that no man is invincible. Any one can die at any time. Whether it be the 99 year old man who has lived a full life or the toddler who is just learning to walk. The old saying in football is that any team can win on “Any given Sunday”. Well carry this saying over to life because Any person can die on any given day. We never know when it is going to be our time.

In recent weeks, if you’ve been watching the news at all, you’ve heard of celebrities dying left and right. Some were older (Ed McMahon was 86). Some weren’t that old (Michael Jackson and Billy Mays were both 50). Some had battled illness (Farah Fawcett had cancer). In local news we have seen six young people (aged 15-30) in the last couple of weeks in the immediate area. We’ve also had brothers pass in the same week, elderly passing unexpectedly and when it was their time. All the deaths may seem morbid, but it helps me to make my point. These people were all over in terms of age and location. They may have been famous or virtually unknown. It didn’t matter as they took their last breath of life – they all were mortal and they are all dead.

This brings me to my point. You always hear people say that you should live each day like its your last, but nobody does. It is hard to do that because if you really knew it was your last day – I doubt you would go to work. I doubt you would just sit down after dinner tonight and flip on the TV. I bet you wouldn’t go out for a drink with your friends instead of coming straight home to your family. I bet you would call all your loved ones who were far away. Would you take out a large insurance policy to protect your family (assuming you knew enough in advance)? More importantly than those things – would you be ready to face your maker? Are you in a state of mortal sin? Would you be able to look God in the eyes and say that you did your best with what He gave you? Would you be able to say that you loved Him above all things? Had you turned your back on temptations and lived exactly according to His plan? The point is that we don’t prepare ourselves for death because it is not expected.

Many of us would not be ready for this. That is why sudden deaths are so hard on us. It is my goal to start making sure that I am more prepared. I will do my best here on earth and hope that one day I may stand before Jesus in all His glory, in His splendor that we can’t even imagine, and when He judges me, I pray that I will be worthy to join Him for Eternity. Because, as one of my favorite quotes says:

In the end, forever, you and I will be in Heaven or Hell. Period. – Fr. Corapi

Let’s all strive for Heaven.

And now, I’m back to my mission…