This Sunday, I went to pay a final visit to a man who has had more happiness in life than any celebrity I’ve ever heard of. At about 94 years old, he’s lived through the Great Depression, WW2, and endless political/social conflicts.

And he is so happy now that the doctors have told him he can die at any time.

Greg* had found meaning in life–a meaning that goes beyond the short-lived pleasures of money, popularity, and having a strong “social media following.” He realized long ago that life’s true meaning is to know Christ.

I’m black as are many of my church friends that came with me. Greg and his family are white and they also have a different church affiliation than myself. But as we talked, sang, and showed our appreciation for this godly man, I couldn’t help but contrast the unity of our gathering with the racial chaos that is dividing America.

That Sunday afternoon we crossed racial lines, socioeconomic lines, age generation lines and even church doctrine lines. We showed the community that harmony is possible as we strengthened each other under the sunny skies and gentle breeze—lost in the love of Jesus Christ. This reinforced the truth of what I wrote in my previous post (America’s real problem).

I jokingly told Greg that, if he had passed away before we got to say goodbye, we’d have had to raise him up from the dead just to pay our final respects. “No, please don’t raise me up!” Greg laughed. “Please don’t!” You see, he’d gone beyond church membership to true conversion–an experience with the Lord that literally changed his life. Everything else but the Lord was secondary.

As we see CEOs tumbling and the global financial markets reeling, ask yourself what gives you purpose? Do you have something so precious that, like Greg, when life is over you’ll know that you’ve found its true meaning?

Truly, nothing can be more important than that.

JPR

*Name changed to protect privacy.