Not quite 2 months ago in my blog article entitled, “The Last Third,” I talked about the brevity of life. I suggested that it is sobering to think that at the age of 48, two-thirds of my life is already behind me … and only if statistics hold true and I live to be about 75 years old, the current average life expectancy for an American male.

But I also said, “God might have other plans for me and I will live only a few more moments.”

20 minutes ago I was informed that one of my best friends from high school, Jeff Fretti, passed away a couple of days ago. He had a heart attack while vacationing in Florida.

Dead.

Just like that, Jeff passed into eternity. Alive.

I’m sad, and the tears are starting to pool in my eyes. It won’t be long before I have a good cry.

But I just have to post this blog before I mourn, because I urgently want myself to grasp the reality, and I urgently want you to grasp the reality, that we are going to die.

I am going to die. You are going to die. We are going to die … maybe sooner than we think we will.

Are we ready?

I am not going to put any condition on your life or mine. I am not going to say that we had better do this or that before we die, that we better believe this or that before we die, or else.

But I do want to say …

Love. Thank. Laugh. Create. Find. Touch. Forgive. Think. Accept. Feel. Bless. Give. Seek. Smile. Repent. Hug. Cultivate. Believe. Start. Kiss. Encourage. Strive. Worship. Ask. Hope. Behold.