KEEP YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE INTACT

Sadly, I have seen too many devoutly religious people work hard for the good most of their lives and then as they approach the end of their journey give up, waste away, and lose their faith. Here are some suggestions:

• Keep practicing your faith. Not so long ago in a big city area a famous bishop of a great denomination approached old age, developed a severely painful case of arthritis, cursed a God that could visit such agony on one of his servants, publicly proclaimed he had given up his faith, became a snarling skeptic, and died a bitter old man. What a sad thing for a quarterback to give up just before the touchdown.

• Get in touch with nature. Spend some time each day outside in nature. If that is not possible, get some plants in your room and grow something. Get your fingers in the dirt, lift your head toward the sky, watch the stars, the clouds, the changing heavens, and then turn your eyes upon the beautiful growing things and exult in the glory of life.

• Speak a good word, or do a good deed, or think a good thought about the positive nature of things. The other day I was feeling a little tired after a long trip to Sacramento. I stopped in a gas station and a young man waited on me. When I paid the bill and started up my car to leave, the young man said, "God go with you on your journey. May you be safe and happy." Maybe he was a religious gook, I don't know. But, I do know that he cheered me up and made me realize the value of a good word to a passing stranger.

• Never give up your hopes for the future. Death is only a step away for those who lose hope and eternal life is available to those who keep up their hope. The great master was crucified between two thieves: one who lost hope and scoffed and sneered; one who still thought life contained some answers and cried out for the master to remember him. When I approach the end of my days, even if I am suffering the tortures of the cross, I want to hear the Golden One say to me, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." How important it is not to give up hope.

• Don't let yourself get bitter or mean. On occasions when people get difficult, a friend will say, "I'm going to move to the middle of the Alaska tundra, a thousand miles from my nearest neighbor." My son John heard my friend make that statement and replied, "Then, you will be involved in a deeper problem, that of raw survival with the elements." A person can't get away from problems. "Life consists of solving problems, and the good life consists of solving them without becoming bitter."

  If people are not tactful and hurt your feelings, show them how to be tactful. E. Stanley Jones, a missionary to India, once said, "I never allow people to hurt my feelings or insult me. No matter what they say, I never take offense; because, the deeper my offense, the shallower my faith." Most of us might find that policy a bit too much, but it works.

  I keep asking myself the question, "How does my bitterness help me to solve this problem?" The answer always is, "It doesn't. Bitterness only makes it more difficult."

• Fight off death to the very end. You believe in life, not death. Show by your eagerness, vitality, and enthusiastic living that you want to live forever. Fill yourself with love of life and keep yourself alive as long as you can and death will be for you a magnificent graduation ceremony.

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