I attended a memorial service for my friend Jody this past weekend. It was such a beautiful, sweet time of remembering her. Being a pastor's kid, I have attended more than my fair share of funerals and memorial services, and it is true that most of the time I sat there and thought, "What a crock! That person was nothing like they are all saying!" But that was not true with Jody. The things people said about her were really true. One friend said that he believed Jody would be pleased with the legacy she left. She lived her life exactly the way she would want to be remembered.

I was very convicted. I must be honest. Jody actually lived her life every day, as if she were already in heaven. I never saw her get bogged down with life. She lived her life-to the full, but it never clouded her eternal perspective. That is not true of me. Oh, how I would LOVE that to be true of me!

I have been with people on their death beds. It is a truly amazing thing, to be with someone who has one foot on earth and one foot in heaven. Sometimes, I feel the desire to hold on to them in hopes of slipping into glory with them! The presence of glory is almost tangible. I really am jealous! But those times are few and far between. Most days are spent in a flurry of activity, and at the end of it, I feel more like a war veteran than a victorious pilgrim.

I want to live MY life. This crazy busy life of mine, in a way that is not detached, but engaged. Not just engaged on the physical level but on the spiritual level as well. I have known few people who do it right. Jody was one of them. My dad is another. Those rare one who are so connected with people and love them so deeply, yet nothing seems to knock them off balance. They walk through the madness of this world as if their feet were not really walking here at all, but in another dimension.

Oh to be heavenly minded and earthly good!!