Fear is pointless.
Fearing dogs can make some sense. They can bite you and hurt you.
But usually they won't.
But if they're going to, they will bite you whether or not you fear them.
Fearing airplanes can make sense. It can crash, and you might die.
But it probably won't.
But if it's going to, being afraid will do nothing for you.
Unless of course, you don't go on the plane.
But what is the point in life if all you're going to do is survive?
A favourite quote from the Irresistible Revolution:
"All through life you'll meet people who tiptoe through life, only to arrive at death safely.
But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip or dance, just don't tiptoe".
Dave Powell did not tiptoe. So much of the reason he has left such an impact on people is because he was in love with God, and consequently, in love with life.
He ran, he hopped, and he danced.
His final status update which has sort of turned into his last words was, "I want to run, jump and spread life in this world". And this he did in life, and is doing even now in death.
But he did not arrive at death safely.
He died instantly in a car accident. Fully alive one second, not at all the next.
His death throws into perspective for me the importance of living life each day.
His life, death and legacy are sitting right on the top of my mind as I decide how to spend each day.
I have a spare moment. I am going to visit my friend who I haven't seen in a long time. Or write a poem. Or walk in a forest and worship God. Not veg out and watch TV.
Can you imagine if I watched a couple episodes of Desperate Housewives and then died?
No. That can't happen.
Life. You live it once and you have no idea how long yours is. We assume we're going to get old, and we know it's technically possible to die early but we don't really comprehend it.
No one dies early. People die young, but not early. You die when you die and then your life is over and not before that. If you're life is short, it wasn't long and you got ripped off. It is short, and it was always going to be short. You don't know whether your life is long or short.
Dave had 22 years. That's how long his life was. We desperately wish it could have been a longer life, but it wasn't.
Dave was not aware that his life was 22 years long but he understood the urgency of living now.
God prepared him during his short life and opened his eyes to see the reality of life, that you can't wait to live your life. His reasoning was not that you might die young, but even more profound than that.
He told us that if you do make it to your old age, but you've waited until then to throw your life to God, you have but a shell of the life you could have had to offer to God.
You might have been such an impactful person. You could have moved mountains.
The funny thing about starting tomorrow is that tomorrow never comes. You never exist within tomorrow. You only exist within this very moment that you're in right now. That's all you have control over.
What are you doing with your moment?
We have an eternity to hang out after death. We have a very short amount of time on this earth.
But what we do matters.
What the hell are we doing, anyways?
For Christ's sake, why don't we just live for Him?!
Why do I care what people think of me when they look at me?
Why do I spend do much time on putting outfits together, or stalking people on Facebook, or just wandering around doing nothing with myself!
I am alive.
I am alive.
The majority of bodies on this earth can't say that!
I am alive and I am free.
Free politically, free spiritually, free in who I am...
I am free!
I will live like it, dammit.
Dave knew he was alive.
Beyond that. He understood.
And he loved God, and he understood how to appreciate life.
When I first added him on Facebook I stalked him a little bit, and looking at his profile, I saw that his status at the time said,"Do you ever get that feeling when you sing, that your body cant contain the exultation in life that you feel?...This whole week has been full those moments. Ugh.....to fly!!"
At this I commented to my housemates that "he seems like a grab-life-by-the-toes" kind of guy. For this, I was mercilessly mocked because apparently that's a metaphor that's mixed up and doesn't actually exist. But it made sense to me.
I envisioned life trying to get away from him as it so often does in Western society for all us soulless rich folks, and him screaming, "NO! YOU GET BACK HERE!" while launching himself, face first in the direction of fleeting life, and grabbing onto it, just as it was about to get away, barely grasping it by the toes and pulling it back towards him. Moment-by-moment.
A Grab Life by the Toes kind of guy. David Powell.
Be alive in absolute joy, Dave, as you revel in the presence of our Father.
Bless you, brother. Thank you for the inspiration and the challenge of living like you do.
Amen.
Lord be with the Powell family. Give them comfort, grace, peace and joy.
And give Dave a big hug for me. Amen.
At the Embassy we have a speakers corner booth where every week we ask a question and people answer, and it's shown in the service the next week.
Normally it's a silly question and the answers are usually silly and witty; it's an excuse for a laugh.
But one week in October the question was, "What are your words of Wisdom to the World".
This is Dave's answer. I suggest you listen carefully because this is a 22 year old boy who died suddenly last week, and he knew what he was talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQrwGk-nZaM
