Piper's dad goes home -- a lesson for us all

I had to post this link to the blog/ journal entry made by John Piper after the passing of his father. It reminds me of when my grandpa passed away several years ago. There is no sadness for the loss of life for these great saints as they go home; rather just the sorrow of the tempoary separation and the effect of not having their leadership, friendship, and godly example before us. It reminds me:

1. this is not our true home, there is so much more beyond our few years here
2. I want to live a life that may someday have even a small chance of being remembered this way
3. I need to honor my own parents and the lives of my elders as they live out their examples before me. And pass the importance of this on to my children.

Here are a couple of quotes from the post that truly hit home.

That’s it. I rose and waited. Will he breathe again? Nothing. Fifteen or twenty seconds, and then a gasp. I was told to expect these false endings. But it was not false. The gasp was the first of two. But no more breaths. I waited, watching. No facial expressions. His face had frozen in place hours before. One more jerk. That was all. Perhaps an eyebrow twitch a moment later. Nothing more.
I stroked his forehead and sang,
My gracious Master and My GodAssist me to proclaimTo spread through all the earth abroadThe honors of thy name

Thank you, Daddy. Thank you for sixty-one years of faithfulness to me. I am simply looking into his face now. Thank you. You were a good father. You never put me down. Discipline, yes. Spankings, yes. But you never scorned me. You never treated me with contempt. You never spoke of my future with hopelessness in your voice. You believed God’s hand was on me. You approved of my ministry. You prayed for me. Everyday. That may be the biggest change in these new days: Daddy is no longer praying for me

It was 12:55 as I walked out of room 4326. Just before the elevators on the fourth floor in the lounge, a young man in his twenties was sitting alone listening to his iPod with headphones. I paused. Then I walked toward him. He stopped his music. Hello, my father just died. One of the greatest tributes I could pay to him is to ask you, Are you ready to meet God? “Yes, Sir.” That would make my father very happy. You know Jesus is the only way? “Yes, Sir.” Good. Thank you for letting me talk to you.