A good post here by my friend Aaron Armstrong. As Aaron mentions, this article on Pastor Matt Chandler’s battle with brain cancer is a must read. He goes on to contrast that with another bit he heard this weekend (which, coincidentally, I heard as well) about journalist William Lobdell who lost his faith while writing – as a Christian – about religion.
Yesterday I was listening (briefly) to Tapestry on CBC Radio One while on the way to read a book and drink a warm beverage. I caught a snippet of an interview with William Lobdell, a journalist who became a Christian in his twenties, served as the religion reporter for one of the biggest newspapers in the U.S. since become an atheist.
In talking about the Christian worldview, he said something that really caught my attention, which was that,
Christians see this life as a fleeting moment in light of eternity. So to waste a day, a month, a year… it’s not really a big deal. They think they’ve got all eternity. But for an atheist, because we know this is all there is, we take as much joy as we can and make the most of every moment (my paraphrase).
Going back to Chandler for a minute,
At church, he has deflected sympathy with reassurances that this is a good thing, that he is not shrinking back. Chandler has preached the last two weekends and is planning trips to South Africa and England. He recently lost his hair to radiation but got a positive lab report last week and feels strong.
Chandler would rather this not have happened. But he is drinking life in — watching his son build sandcastles at the park, preaching each sermon as if eternity is at stake — and feeling a heightened sense of reality.
I look at these two drastically different stories and it breaks my heart.
Read the rest of Aaron’s post here.
