R.I.P. Johnny D

My second cousin passed away this week in a tragic car accident. I say tragic because that’s what you say when someone young dies; right? When a grandparent dies, it affects us in a different way than when someone our own age or younger leave’s us. It puts the reality of death into perspective every single time it happens, and for me, it makes me contemplate the afterlife. Although I haven’t seen him in two years or so, Johnny was one of those people who knew everyone, and everyone seemed to like him. He was gifted when it came to music, and melodies just flowed through him. He loved living life. If there was something crazy or strange that he could get into, he did it, and enjoyed every second of it. These are the things we know.

Here’s where the topic gets a little less popular. I have seen message boards on memorial sites for Johnny, and many others for that matter, that are filled with sentiments like, “Miss you, but you are in Heaven now”, or “Now you get to sing in Heaven”. The list goes on. For some reason people need to comfort themselves with the thought that whoever has just passed away is in Heaven and not the eternally worse alternative. To some extent I share these sentiments. I mean, no one wants to live the rest of their lives thinking that a great friend or loved one is suffering for eternity, but the harsh reality is that the Bible says that the way is narrow to enter the kingdom of Heaven. That means that the MAJORITY of all people that have ever lived will not enter through the narrow gate. I don’t mean to be grim, but that is the truth. For this very reason, not I or anyone else on earth can judge someone who has passed on. We can hope, and I do hope that his soul belonged to God, but that is only for God himself to determine.
I find that people handle death in one of two ways. The first; they take stock of their own lives and how they’re living, and determine that changes need to be made and that they’ve been taking life for granted. The second; they feel that for some reason this was DONE to them out of spite by God, and they completely abandon any hope they may have had in Him. I find myself in the first position, really putting value on living and loving those around me to the fullest of my ability. Then the memory fades, and I find myself thinking about life less, and my own selfish ambitions a lot more, until someone else tragically passes away at a young age, without explanation. The though process begins again.

Johnny, you were loved by many and will be sorely missed. I hope you made some good decisions with your last days here, and if you are where we hope you are, get together with JC (Jesus Christ) and JC (Johnny Cash) and sing us a song. We’ll be listening.

J.W.

should i stay or should i go now?

At almost 25 years of age, I've never lived on my own, in dorm or otherwise. Some may see this as pretty pathetic, but I've always been content with the fact. Why move out when I don't absolutely need to? I love my family and the dynamic we've got going on. Sure it's loud, and there's a lot of fighting(non verbal), and I have some siblings that are absolutely insensitive to the fact that people have jobs and therefore need to sleep, but it's what I choose to endure. As the oldest in the house it would only be natural that I be the first to move out and get a life. My family is going from a seven person household to potentially no household at all within the next year and I'm not one of the departing. My sister is moving to B.C. next week, my brother is moving to Peterborough after he gets married this summer, and my youngest sister is going to school in Toronto in the fall. That leaves me and my brother, and that's just the story of my siblings. My parents are heavily contemplating a move to Alberta, where my dad bought a piece of property(he's a bit like me, in that, when he is into something, he goes overkill).

So let's review. We went from a tight family that has never been apart, to being scattered across Canada within the span of a year. It's on its way, and eventually I'm going to have to embrace the fact that I actually can't live at home forever as I once promised my mom. I guess I should really be ready for some new challenges by now, after all, I'm about to eclipse the quarter century mark. Here's to the next quarter century, and a probable location change.

a little excessive maybe?

I read an article today about salaries for Canadian CEO's. They found that among the top 100 CEO's in Canada, the average yearly salary for 2008 was $10,000,000+. To put that into perspective, the average wage in Canada is just over $40,000. And we wonder why our economy is the way it is. There is no job on this planet that deserves, or even requires that many zero's, yet it's happening, year after year. When it does eventually come down to an all out depression, these will be the people not only surviving, but thriving. If they were willing to "live" on a million dollars a year, and donate the rest toward solving the worlds problems, think of the difference that could be made. The reality is though, that it's not just multi-million dollar CEO's that should have this mentality. I'm a Christian, and if I follow the basic laws of my faith based on Jesus Christ, I should give of myself to those in need, and love the unlovable. This is what being a Christian is supposed to be about. I read a shocking statistic that said that if all professed Christians in North America were to tithe the basic 10%, we could provide the basic needs for every single person on this earth. We're not talking about mansions and fast cars, but shelter, food, medical care, education and clothing. That tells me that I'm not doing my job, or at least not to the capacity that I could. There needs to be a change of direction or goal overall, and that goal is more we and less me. If we can make that happen, than we've got something.

jake