Life #3 – Rage against the Dying of the Light

Kaaawa 2011

A famous TV actor once said in an interview that although he had cancer, he wanted to live. There was so much he wanted to do. He wouldn’t go without a fight. This actor had an aversion to death. Then I remembered a poem by Dylan Thomas. Thomas urged his dying father to fight; that no matter how they lived their lives, or what they felt at the end, they should all die fighting. I concluded that this actor and Thomas were determined not to “go gentle into that good night”.

My last hospital visit with a dear old Christian man was bittersweet. I watched this octogenarian “rage against the dying of the light”, as he demanded an answer from me. “Why? Why?” I had no answer. No words. Only silence. Charlie S. had a strong inclination to live. When he finally accepted that no answer was forthcoming, he fell to one knee and cried uncontrollably. I cried with him. Dear Charlie did not have the knowledge of 2 Timothy 1:10 or John 11:26, but he did have truth in his inward parts. Truth helped Charlie perceive that life was for his body. Though it was not to be manifested for Charlie that day, it will be at the Resurrection.

Jesus promised that if we lived and believed in him, we would never die (John 11:26). So, Lord, what does it take to live?

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Scripture quotations from New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted; poem by Dylan Thomas from Wikipedia.