Famous last words

Famous last words. The last words spoken take on a special significance.

Like these famous last words from Sir Isaac Newton –

“I don’t know what I may seem to the world. But as to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than the ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

Imminent death gives a new perspective and clarity.

And what about these words reputedly from the mouth of Leonardo da Vinci?

“I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.”

Wow.

Some look back. Some look forward.

Sir Alfred Hitchcock is reported to have said –

“One never knows the ending. One has to die to know exactly what happens after death, although Catholics have their hopes.”

Fascinating.

King David’s last words before his death as recorded in 1 Chronicles are a prayer –

“Praise be to you, Lord,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendour,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.

Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”  1 Chronicles 29:10-19

Many of these words of David’s live on in our liturgy today. They’re spoken weekly in our communion services –

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendour,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.

And this. This I try to remember every single day. This is what I try to live by.

Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. (NIV)

Everything comes from you; all we’re doing is giving back what we’ve been given from your generous hand. (Message)

All things come from you and of your own do we give you. (Church of England liturgy)

This way of thinking changes everything. Everything I have comes from God. Everything I have belongs to God.

Therefore I can overflow with gratitude every day for all the good things in my life – health, breath, home and family, my job, friends….and all the good things I enjoy every single day.

Therefore I can hold loosely to what I have.

Therefore I can share freely.

Therefore I can give generously.

This is not bad news. This is the way it should be. This is not doing without. This is living life to the full, living as God intended His created beings to live.

The human spirit loves to give. It is naturally generous. It responds naturally to need and finds joy in the giving.

I’ve seen that this week with the generosity of my friends and family on Facebook for the Dryden Bungalow Project. They have given freely and generously. And I am overwhelmed.

I never dreamt that I would find myself in a job where a fair chunk of it is fundraising. I always felt fundraising was just coming up with clever ways to beg for money, to guilt people into giving……now I have changed my view completely. I now see it as a way to offer an opportunity to give….so one gives to Tickled Pink because his daughter died from breast cancer and another gives to Dryden because his wife miscarried a brain damaged child and another gives to Huntington’s Disease Association because her mum died of it…….

And my colleague has baked the most beautiful cake to raise money for Tickled Pink because baking is her thing and she loves to use her gifts in this way……

And my friend has trained hard for the Great North Run tomorrow because she cares deeply about the cause – The Children’s Foundation.

Finding ways to give and share enriches our lives. As well as the lives of others.

Of course, the temptation is to hold our possessions and money close to our chest. We earned it, right? we deserve it. Why should we share with the undeserving? Andy was telling me yesterday about all the tax dodging that goes on in terms of land bought by businesses that are based in tax havens – if these people who already have so much showed some integrity and paid the tax that would be owed if they hadn’t ‘sheltered’ their assets, imagine what our education system and health service would look like then.

So these are my last words for September.

These are my last words from 1 Chronicles.

If you remember nothing else, remember this –

All things come from you and of your own do we give you.