“The tongues of dying men enforce attention like deep harmony,” (William Shakespeare, Richard II, II. 1-6), and if we had time and space we could print the final words that history has recorded of many famous people. Here are just few, unattributed words –
“Honey, get me the fork the darn toaster’s jammed.
“Why yes honey, I do think you look fat in that dress.
“See, I told you the current’s off.”
“For my next trick I will escape from this flaming coffin while wearing a strait jacket and singing Eye of the Tiger.”
“Don’t worry, I read somewhere that bears mostly eat roots and berries.”
In a more serious vein we could quote the final words of hotel chain boss Conrad Hilton who is said to have uttered the immortal words: “leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub,” – perhaps we could all learn from that?
It is reputed of Charlie Chaplin (1889 – 1977) as his final gasp to the priest who was attending him, and who had said: “May the Lord have mercy on your soul,” Chaplin replied: “Why not? After all, it belongs to Him.” Georges Chavez was a Peruvian aviator who in 1910 competed for a $15,000 prize donated by promoters in Milan, Italy, for the first flyer to cross the Alps between Brig, Switzerland, and Domdossia, Italy. Most of the aviators were scratched because of inferior credentials and the remaining few dropped out, leaving Chavez to attempt the record. Although buffeted by high winds he kept control of the plane, and as the crowds cheered, he made it across the mountains, but the wings dropped off and immediately the plane fell like a stone. He suffered massive internal injuries and as he lingered in semi-consciousness he was heard to mutter, “Arriba. Siempre arriba. “Higher. Always higher.” That is something that many sincere Christians must breathe every time they pray?
John Barr, one of the foremost deliverance men in the country ofrecent years and highly respected in the Elim movement, died a few years ago. I don’t know what his last words were, or even if his wife would remember, but we all say he cannot be replaced, which reminds me of an epitaph written about Wallace Berry “No man is indispensable, but some are irreplaceable.”
We cling to the final words they utter to keep the memory alive.
There was an aged Baird who was at the point of death, and there was a crowd of disciples clustered around his bed waiting for his final gift of wisdom. At last as the leading disciple leant over him he was heardto whisper “life is like a river.” The first disciple passed the phrase on to the next and it went down the line until it reached the last one, who, thinking it through asked the question, “Why, is life like a river?” Back the question came up the line of disciples until the first one leant over the dying man and said, “Why is life like a river?” At first, there was no response but gradually he stirred and very weakly replied – “Perhaps it isn’t then!”
To me, the greatest final words uttered on this earth must be those spoken by Jesus Christ, the one I endeavour to loyally serve. Here they are: “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.’”(Mark 16:15-19).
We should let those words sink down deep into our ears, for they were the sum total of Christ’s ministry here on earth. “He came not to be ministered unto but to minister and give his life as a ransom for many,” (Matthew 20:28). Perhaps we should also?
