final words

[This is a repost from February 20, 2008 Here. I actually ended up reading the book mentioned below on vacation just a couple weeks ago.]

This week I'm reading [re]Understanding Prayer: A Fresh Approach to Conversation with God by Kyle Lake.

It was shocking when Kyle Lake died a few years ago at only 33. He died while baptizing a new believer because of a freak accident with the heater in the pool & the mic. Kyle was the pastor at University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. Chris Seay (now at Ecclesia) started the church back in '95 with David Crowder (who is still the worship pastor there).

Everyone that knew him said he had an enormous passion for life! Kyle always ended his sermons with the phrase: "Love God, Embrace Beauty, and Live Life to the Fullest." He was ready to speak the Sunday morning that he died... but never got to deliver that final sermon. His wife found it later on his computer and below is an excerpt from that talk he never got to deliver. BUT, it sure is powerful... and very WOW to think that he passed away the same day he was supposed to give this talk. I want to live my life with the same passion and fullness that values every moment like Kyle describes below. AWESOME reminder for me!

Live. And Live Well.

BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now.

On a crystal clear, breezy seventy-degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.

If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE.

Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.

If you bike, pedal HARD... and if you crash, then crazsh well.

Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done--a paper well-written, a project throroughly completed, a play well-performed.

If you must wipe the snot from your three-year-old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn't catch it all... because soon he'll be wiping his own.

If you've recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And grieve well.

At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke.

And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven.

And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life.

Because it is most definitely a Gift.

(Kyle Lake, 1972-2005)