Skip to main content

Do not go gentle into that good night ...




Dylan Thomas did not live long, according to today's expectations. He wrote a poem for his dying father that, when I read it recently, triggered a thought process. It expresses a desperation to hold on to life, but I suggest it also echoes a sentiment that should challenge us to live life well, and to the full.

 His poem, same title as above, includes the lines ...
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
So, what is the thought it triggered?

 I don't want to get to the end of my life and look back to think 'what was the point of all that?' I want to get to the end, look back, and think 'That was a bit of a roller coaster ride - but I enjoyed the gift of life as fully as I could!'

 The challenge is that I have the capacity to make sure that I can say the latter by the degree to which I align my decisions and activities to the priorities that are important to me ... choosing these over the social norms or others agendas. As a Christian it also means gladly embracing the will of God for my life - The Bible tells me He loves me, He has purposes which I can join Him in and He delights to share these with me and He enables me to live life to the full.

I also believe we will each have to give an account for our lives. Did we believe in Jesus? Did we respond to His offer of hope, grace and love? In addition, for those who did, what did we do with the time, talents and resources we were given to serve His purposes? I don't approach this with fear, rather I see it as a re-running of all that has happened over my life except this time I will see it through with God sat beside me giving me His perspective, and my more fully seeing His presence at work in and through my life. I'm quite looking forward to it!!

 I know that generally people in the U.K. dont like thinking about death other than trying to avoid it ... hence the poem. However, there is another way to live to ensure that when it happens, as we all know it will, we can embrace it with confidence and join with others to celebrate a life well lived!!

 I hope that's not too depressing a thought for you?!

 Press on!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Feel free to add comments or ask questions:

Popular posts from this blog

Does God really lead us?

  Often as evangelical believers we talk about the concept of ‘calling’ explaining it along the lines of God speaking to his people, sometimes this is narrowed even to the experience of a special, select ‘few’ and limited in scope to those who are engaging in full-time Christian ministry. The following are some notes I prepared for a talk: Firstly, I would like to say that most Christians would believe that God communicates with his people, and that this may happen in many different ways. What is of utmost importance is that it does happen. We are in relationship with a Living God, who we call Father, and who communicates with us His creation and covenant people.   God communicates in a number of ways and one special way in which He leads and guides his people might be termed a vocation or calling and it’s this particular aspect of His communication I want to focus on.   So what is the calling? Who is called? And what are we called to? The whole i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts from a previous incumbent ...

In reference to 2 Tim 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of p o wer, of love a nd of sel f-discipli ne."   Norman Grubb decl are d that; "We are set in our day and generation to be overcomers, not to sail through calm seas but to walk on storms, to replace need with supply, to transform aspiration into realization. The language of defeatism, fear, lack and weakness is not to be in our vocabulary. "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. As for these giants, they are bread for us," we say with sturdy Caleb.  We are to act as the men of faith of old; we are to visualize our goal in clear outline; we are to take it for granted that we shall reach it, for we have both the commission and anointing of God?   We lay our plans ,build our organisations, produce our written and verbal pronouncements,  prayer our prayers, do our work, not as those who will fail and fall by the way, but...
2 comments
Read more

Labels

Who are you? I have never been a great fan of labels when it comes to describing members of the body of Christ. eg. he is anglican, she is Baptist, they are Charismatic, etc. etc. I remember once causing a man to become increasingly hot under the collar when he asked me who I was? To which I replied I was a disciple (follower) of Jesus. He was meaning which Church did I attend (presumably so he could classify me and decide whether I was bona fide or not) and my answer did not bring him peace, but I refused to go any further.  Why? Because, as I said, I am not a great fan of labels, but also because for me there is a very important distinction between primarily identifying myself with Jesus and identifying myself with Church. Of course, I recognise that by becoming a follower of Jesus I become part of the body of Christ, but that can be very distinct from being a member of a Church. To me this is the crucial difference between vibrant faith and dusty religion.  ...
1 comment
Read more