MJ and I were watching our favorite show, Succession, last evening. Suddenly the drama changed from the quirky wedding of the oldest son of Logan Roy to Logan’s death. It is the third episode of a ten-episode arch for this last season of the program. I kept sitting and watching and thinking that this must be a trick…surely the patriarch and the center of the popular show has not just died. But he had…in all of his earthly glory on his private jet and with his girlfriend who is half his age and his pronouncement in the prior episode to the news staff at his new corporation that is loosely based on Fox News…’We are pirates!’ Indeed the remaining episodes will be different in a fundamental manner. Logan was central to all of the stories. It was a bit unusual to feel a sense of loss for a dramatic character…but I did.

This is life. We are mortal and we feel that we will never end. When I was a young man one of my good friends told me that he believed that he would never die. We understand that everyone else is going to die…but surely not us…

Death makes life precious and special and unique. We know that we all have an ending. We suppose that it will be around 100 years old and we will be sitting in our favorite woods smoking a lovely cigar and slowly slipping from this world to the next in a seamless fashion.

Pastor Kerry preached a magnificent sermon yesterday for Easter. A full half of the message dealt with the practicalities of life and our dysfunctional relationship with death. As Kerry said, ‘We do not have a complete understanding of death because we only see it from one side.’

Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed and relished and immersed in. It is not something to shun or to be put off until a more convenient time. Now is the time! Every day can be lived as the surprise ending to our story. As when we least expect it…it will…

Immersion is the key. We often dabble around the edges of our great gift and never dive into the bottom of our sea to understand who we are and what we can accomplish. We are a tad bit afraid and we have enjoyed the shelter of our enclosed world. We hope for grace and truth and purpose…but we are satisfied with mediocrity and conspiracy and just getting by.

Grand Experiment is our calling and where we have been abruptly placed. We point to our challenges and our meager abilities while the angels say…’You can do it!’