30% Chance of Survival

My cell phone rang the other day while I was on the landline phone at work. My heart lit up to see the name of my dear friend Mary (not her real name) that I had not talked to in quite a while. Unable to answer the phone I was looking forward to hearing her message on my voicemail.

The tone of the message was exactly what I had expected... upbeat and fresh with a sparkle in her voice. She simply said that she and her husband would love to talk to me. How nice is that!

I returned the call within 30 minutes. She answered the phone and said, "Oh David. Thank you so much for calling. Hold on a minute and let's get Bob (not his real name) on the other line." Sure enough he came on and said, "Hello David." This whole scene reminded me of talking to my grandparents as a young boy back in the day when everyone would pick up every available phone in the house and talk to "the grandparents" as fast as possible because it cost so much money to call "long distance."

I was excited to hear their voices. Mary and Bob talked to one another for a few seconds while I listened in. The decision had to be made. Who was going to tell me the story? Bob said, "You go ahead Mary. You tell David."

And the story began...
A diagnosis of Diabetes a few months ago...a car trip to a major metropolitan city...Bob turning a shade of yellow...a stop into a hospital... a CAT scan...another diagnosis... Pancreatic Cancer.

Then there was the inevitable pause...
It was my turn to say something, anything...
I started to speak.
My voice faltered...
Tears streamed down my face...
I find it extremely hard to speak when I am crying and my face is all contorted...
But speak I did...
Before long all three of us were crying on the phone.

Bob went on to say, "The good news in all of this, if there can be good news, is that when I went to the specialist he said, 'The good news is that 9 out of 10 people who walk in my office with your diagnosis, I have to tell them there is nothing I can do for you' But for you, I can do something.

The specialist continued, "With the type of treatment we are going to propose there is about a 30% chance of survival."

Bob and Mary let that bit of news sink in.
We talked for another ten minutes or so. I prayed over the phone and we all cried some more.
In saying good-bye, Bob, in his typical manner said, "David, I know this may sound a little strange, but I hope you are going to have a great day."

My iWitness...

I got stuck on the "30% chance of survival" line in our conversation.
My first thought was that if you hit a baseball just 30% of the time you are in the Hall of Fame!
Then again, being the tennis player that I am, I thought, if you only get in 30% of your first serves in a tennis match then you are going home early.

Eventually my mind and heart landed on this...

On this earth, on this roller coaster of a ride called life...
We have a "Zero Percent Chance of Survival."
None of us get out of this alive.
We are all going to die... some sooner than we thought and some later than we thought.

At the same time, my mind and heart landed on this as well...
All of us have a "100% Chance of Living."

Whether we survive for 20 years or 60 years or 100 years, the good news is that we have the chance, the opportunity, the privilege to live and to live recklessly, with abandonment, with joy, with laughter, with tears of pain, with friends, with family, with God...!!!

How many people have I buried that stopped living 20 years before they died. Do you know how sad it is to say at a graveside service, "We bury him today, but he stopped living back in 1994."

To my friends Bob and Mary and to all who will take time to read this blog, please hear me when I shout at the top of my lungs...

LIVE!!! Live the life, ride the roller coaster, jump off the bridge into the water below, climb the mountain, race down the hill, dance the night away, ride the waves, catch the sunrise, blow kisses, hug everyone you know, laugh in spite of yourself, round third base with your legs a kicking, arms a pumping and crack the biggest smile you have ever cracked as you slide head first into home plate having  devoted yourself with reckless abandonment to the One who abandoned himself so that you could live an abundant life.

Would you please do me a favor?
Give me the joy of saying at your graveside service, "We bury him today. However! However ladies and gentlemen he lived until the day he died!"

One of my favorite quotes..."Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away."

Live today in a way that takes your breath away long before the day arrives when there are no more breaths to take.

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

ps - Please pray for Bob and Mary! God knows who they are and so do they...

"Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40. 28-31)