jeremy borger [blog]

I don’t like country music. But I heard the song …

I don’t like country music. But I heard the song “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw on the radio today and I kinda like it. It’s about a guy who finds out that he’s going to die soon. So he decides at that point to finally live life. He goes skydiving, climbs mountains, rides a bull (well, it is a country song), learns how to love and finally decides to forgive.

Imagine if your doctor tells you tomorrow that you have six months to live. You don’t feel sick. You’re not in pain. You’re not stuck to a hospital bed. But six months from tomorrow, you’ll be dead. How do your priorities change? Do some things that seemed so important yesterday suddenly seem insignificant? Does what you’re doing with your money suddenly shift? How about how you spend your time? Do you spend more time out in this beautiful creation that God has given us? Do you spend more time with the people that God loved so much He died for them? If humankind was so valuable that the Creator of the universe submitted Himself to death in order to save it, maybe we should back off on the hating and the hurting and the mocking and just try to love like He did.

So why don’t we live that way every day? What is it about life that distracts us from the important things? We know we’re going to die. It’s not like we forget until some tragedy reminds us. But maybe we do. That’s how it seems sometimes anyway. Not forget in the intellectual way, but forget in that it doesn’t affect our lives.

A friend of my dad’s died last week and there was a good sized article about him in The Plain Dealer’s obituary section. They had quotes from all these people that knew him saying what a great guy he was. Did they tell him that when he was alive? Why do we wait for people to die before saying all these wonderful things about them? Think of a close friend or relative. Think about what you’d say to a reporter who asked you about that person the day after they died. Now when was the last time you told that person face to face what you’d tell to a reporter after they’re gone?

It’s hard to think that way all the time. I don’t know why. It shouldn’t be a state of mourning or panic. You shouldn’t be walking around thinking, “Oh no! Everyone I love is going to die!” But I want to try to reach for a state of constant rejoicing. Constant thankfulness for the people and experiences in my life. Setting priorities and taking risks. Living like I was dying.