What Really Matters

And these three remain: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13

Today I officiated at the funeral of one of our saints. Dwane was 95 years old, and healthy to the end. He was born in 1924. That’s the year of the first winter Olympics in France, the first flight around the world, back when a movie cost 32 cents and a dozen eggs were a quarter.

A man can accomplish a lot in 95 years, and this man certainly did. And yet, his obituary was the shortest I’ve ever seen. It didn’t list his work history, his accomplishments, the positions he held or the clubs to which he belonged. Instead it listed his greatest accomplishment – his marriage of 71 years – and his greatest joy – his 4 children, 10 grand-children and 8 great-grandchildren. That’s it. Because that’s all that really mattered.

With everything that’s going on in the world, it was a gift to be reminded that at the end of the day – and more importantly at the end of this life – what truly matters are the lives we touched with love, just as Jesus has touched ours.

Jeff Marian serves as lead pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN