First Words and Final Words
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His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matt 25:21
In years past when I was an airplane pilot, I learned a lot about flight safety by reading about the mistakes of others. I meticulously read the NTSB report of every fatal plane crash. One thing that fascinated me was reading the transcript of the cockpit recorder that captured the last words spoken in the cockpit before the crash. More often than not, they were curse words and often I thought how awful it would be to have such words be the last ever from your lips.
People say many different kinds of things before they pass on from this world. I recently read a list of last words from criminals before execution, many of which cannot be repeated here. Some, but few confessed and apologized for their wrong doings or proclaimed their innocence.
Gary Gilmore said “Let’s do it.” George Appel, the only death row inmate to use a pun said “Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.” Jimmy Glass said “I’d rather be fishing.” Tom Ketchum probably said the truest statement when he uttered “I’ll be in hell before you start breakfast, boys. Let her rip!” Timothy McVeigh made probably the most untrue statement when he said “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”
The inevitable end will come to us all, we will all fall victim to the looming claws of the grim reaper. But what will we leave behind us … how will we be remembered? Our last words are a keepsake, a memory of us and the lives we lived. Aldous Huxley wrote in the preface to his book “Brave New World”, that one should judge all things as if one saw them from one’s deathbed.
Have you ever thought what your final words might be? We speak thousands per day over seven or eight decades, but finally there comes the very last words. Death is certain. Death is a reality and every ambition is doomed to the frustration of a skeleton, yet most human beings behave as though death were no more than an unfounded rumor.
Alexander the Great’s ambition was to conquer the world and he died weeping and saying “There are no more worlds to conquer. Henry the Eighth died saying “So now, all is gone – empire, body and soul. The point is that most people dying focus on their role in mortal life as all important, as Roman Emperor Augustus, who died asking, “Did I play my role well.”
But for the Christian, it is what is ahead that is important. Life on earth is just a farm team warm up for playing on the big league team of life. As Stonewall Jackson said on his deathbed, “Let us pass over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.”
And for the Christian, what is on the other side of the river is the face and voice of Jesus saying, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” So, in the end the most important death words are not what you say last, but the first words you hear next.
Questions: What were the most inspiring “last words” you’ve read or heard? What would you like your last words to be?
About the Author: John Grant
