Imagine yourself on Saturday morning, January 13, 2018, at 8:07 a.m. You have just completed breakfast and have stepped into a small passenger bus for a driving tour of the Road to Hana on the island of Maui in Hawaii.  The tour guide requests passengers switch their phones into airplane mode to prevent interference with her microphone and to save battery life, since there are few cell towers on the scenic route. As we drive past the Home Depot and I hear the pings of alerts on phones, I assume the sound is a result of people following the guide’s directions; however, I soon realize something is amiss as panic blossoms on faces like the hibiscus flower seen on the island. Pulling over to the side of the road, our guide calmly declares there is a situation and she is phoning the tour’s headquarters for more information. As I sit on the back row of the bus along with an Asian couple, I discover that phones were receiving an alert that stated, “A ballistic missile threat inbound for Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” 

Without alerting us to her panic, our guide speaks calmly with her headquarters and we are encouraged to continue our tour. Some passengers on the bus are asking for the driver to take us to Home Depot for shelter; however, if this is a nuclear missile headed for Hawaii, what good will hiding out in a warehouse store do?

Upon arrival at the first stop of the tour at Ho’okipa Beach to view windsurfers, our guide gathers more information about the text alert, discovering officials are considering it a mistake. So, the Road to Hana tour continues without any real knowledge of what has transpired. Laughingly, I share that if I am going to die today, I know where I’m going, and I’ll just take the journey from one paradise to another! Admittingly, I’ve never really feared my own death, it’s the living in this world that I find threatening.

Sharing that personal experience from Hawaii is just one example that demonstrates a need to reflect on the life we are currently leading with an intentionality towards time. Because we all have an unknown expiration date, it might be vital to ponder what we are doing now in preparation for our homecoming in Heaven. One interesting consideration that has emerged several times over the last few months is connected to the two Greek terms we have for time, Chronos and Kairos. Although we must consider Chronos time, chronological or sequential time, because we do all pass away; I think it’s also valuable to not overlook Kairos, the appointed time when we are serving God’s purpose for our lives. In moving to considering Kairos time, the discussion of death moves away from a tragic event and into a joyful expectation of being face-to-face with our Savior. As Billy Graham states in Nearing Home, “I invite you to explore with me not only the realities of life as we grow older but also the hope and fulfillment-and even joy-that can be ours once we learn to look at these years from God’s point of view and discover His strength to sustain us every day.”

Bob Buford agrees with Graham’s perspective in Finishing Well when he shares, “…many people don’t think of death as a joyous trip to a world that is so much better than this one. Most Christians are terrified by the thought of dying…We live pale and empty lives here on earth because we’re ignorant about what lies ahead, and we need to see that the dimensions of life are so much greater than what we can see, hear, and touch today.”

If we shift our focus away from avoiding conversations of death and instead into how we are stewarding our resources as we prepare for that day, how much more rewarding would we find the work God has called us to do? Death could be a moment to embrace knowing we have fulfilled our purpose on this earth. Although we are not privy to what occurs when our time on earth is done, I embrace Dallas Willard’s perspective that it’s like “stepping through an invisible barrier into that other existence.” So, I proceed in this life to await with joy that moment that my Savior embraces me as you see in the photo on this page.