Professor's Last Stand
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
This was not like any lecture I'd ever heard during my days at schools of higher learning. I'm sure the students, faculty, and guests at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA that September day in 2007 felt the same way. Professor Randy Pausch, dying of pancreatic cancer, delivered a lecture that would leave a legacy of respect for life that forever will touch generations after him.
I stumbled upon Pausch's book, "The Last Lecture", while browsing in the local library. It immediately caught my attention and I recalled that I had seen something on a news magazine show some time ago chronicling the life of this incredible husband and father. Once home, I could barely put the book down. What would this young (only 47 years old) husband and father, whose life was ebbing away, have to say to another young husband and father? I wanted to know and so his story intrigued me. This amazing speech is available to see on his web site (www.thelastlecture.com). I haven't watched the whole thing but it is very evident from the outset that his presentation is not some swan song on his life, a dirge of regret pontificating about what might have been. Instead, it is a celebration of life itself, chock full of gratitude for the experiences that he has been able to have. He did this lecture in order that his young children (5 years, 3 years, and 18 months at the time) would have a glimpse into the man who was their father. It was also intended to be a song of gratitude for his beloved wife, as well as a testimony to generations after him who would face a similar battle. He wanted family, students, and colleagues alike to see the other side of dying... the living part!
I came to the end of the book crying, no sobbing deeply, as I tried to imagine myself being in his shoes. It's a sobering thought, folks. For most of us, we are sailing along through life and scarcely appreciating this thing called "living" that the Lord has blessed us with during our brief sojourn on earth. We think nothing of wasting time that could have been spent on family following vain pursuits that feed our selfish desires. We hold grudges like a hand of cards dealt to us, perhaps discarding the odd one but clinging on dearly to others. We put stock in things instead of people, especially our children, spending money on them instead of time and thinking that will do. Suddenly, a life-threatening illness invades our neat-and-tidy world and we realize that we've been on the wrong flight, heading in the opposite direction of where we should be going. We leave God off the overcrowded list of "things to do and people to see" until we need a miracle (Note: better late than never, but always better early than late). If we only knew, and the Bible teaches us this, that putting God first in our lives helps us to put all of our other priorities in the right place (see Matthew 6:33). I was glad to read that Randy Pausch did have faith in God, although I'm not sure how deep it was.
In August of 2008 Randy Pausch slipped away into eternity. The book was written after the last lecture and before he got too sick to manage such an important project. His message stands as a sobering reminder that life is sacred, all of life, and that we must seek to make choices that are unselfish and lasting instead of self-centred and temporary. Thank-you, Randy. This husband and father will not soon forget your message.
