Wanted to live longer

A business lady was slowly recovering from a heart attack.

“Doctor,” she pleaded with her cardiologist, “Can you keep me alive for the next two years? I want to attend my first grandchild’s piano recital.”

“We’ll try,” he replied compassionately.

In due course, the business lady gratefully attended the recital, and was so proud of her grandson and so happy for the moment.

Some time later, she spoke again to her doctor. “My granddaughter is getting married in 18 months. Can you help me attend her wedding?”

“We’ll do our best,” he replied.

And the business lady happily attended her granddaughter’s wedding.

Ten years passed. The business lady visited her cardiologist regularly and followed his instructions religiously. One morning she called him. “Doctor,” she began, “I’m feeling fine, but I have another request to ask of you. Remember how you saw me through my grandson’s piano recital?”

“Yes…” the doctor replied.

“And later, how you helped me attend my granddaughter’s wedding?”

“Yes…”

“Well, as you know I’ve just celebrated my 80th birthday. And I bought myself this new mattress.”

“Yes?”

“It has a 20-year guarantee. Can you…”

This business lady is good at negotiations, but could she really negotiate for more time? Could the doctor really grant her that? I don’t think so.

When I was young I was foolish. I thought I would remain 28 forever. Young people have this air of invincibility and immortality about them. But the older I got, the more hospital visitations I had to make, the more funerals I had to attend. And then it hit me: There is finality to life on this side of the planet. Maybe that’s why rich men put their names on buildings, to preserve what little immortality they could buy.

George Gipes, an American author and screenwriter, died at the age of 53 as the result of an allergic reaction to a bee sting. In his book, “The Last Time When”, he chronicled the thoughts going on in the minds of those who were about to die.

What do people think about on their deathbeds? What do they say with their last breath? Here’s a short rundown:

• Murderer Richard Loeb was a trifle optimistic about surviving the 56 stabs inflicted on him by a fellow convict in 1936. Loeb said, “I think I’m going to make it!”

• James Rodgers was asked whether he had any last request before facing the firing squad. He replied, “Why yes, a bulletproof vest.”

• Legendary swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks must have been confused before giving up the ghost in 1939. His famous last words were: “Never felt better.”

• William Palmer, who was hanged in 1856, was told to step on the scaffold’s trap door. “Is it safe?” he asked.

• Charles Wood, a murderer who died in the electric chair in 1963, faced witnesses and quipped, “Gents, this is an educational project. You are about to witness the damaging effect electricity has on wood.”

• Finally, Phineas T. Barnum, believed by some to be the greatest ballyhoo artist in history, was interested in the almighty dollar right up to his last moment on earth. His last words: “How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?”

It’s really tragic that their thoughts were not on the God they were about to meet.

The Life beyond this planet is infinitely longer. The more years I add to my life on this planet, the more I understand what people of the cloth meant when they say that “we have to invest in eternity even while we are still living on the temporal.”

Those names on buildings will vanish. In fact the buildings itself will vanish. But a life with Christ goes on for eternity. And this is non-negotiable.

(Develop your leadership skills! Francis Kong will be the lead trainer for the Dr. John Maxwell’s “Developing the Leader Within You” leadership program this Aug. 26-27 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.)