Reluctant Consumers

Have you ever noticed that the dying are far more discerning about how they spend their time and money than the living?

The dying are the most reluctant of all consumers. They can talk themselves out of buying most anything. They don’t feel a need for useless stuff. It’s health and comfort they seek.

A dying person will hardly ever ask you to read to them from People magazine or Glamour. They don’t have the time or the interest in keeping up with the Kardashians.

I’ve sat with my share of dying people over the years and never once have I had them request that I read to them from any of the pop culture rags, but every single one of them has asked me to read to them from the Bible. What is it about dying that makes people hunger for the Word of God in a way that the living rarely do?

You know what else I’ve noticed?

The dying don’t watch much TV. It’s like the minute they find out they are dying, they toss out the remote. The dying don’t seem to care if the world is coming to an end in 2012. They sure the heck don’t care if Mitt Romney or Obama wins the election.

The dying don’t sunbathe, work on their tan lines, or worry about what they are going to wear. They don’t waste hours surfing the web, or arguing about the existence of God.

The dying lack patience for bad coffee and irreverent people.

The dying take life seriously and think all the rest of us should, too.

The dying are uninhibited about whom they love. The dying love with a lavishness that the living often neglect.

Have you noticed that the dying are slower to anger than the living? Or that the dying are more easily amused than the living?

The dying speak differently, too. They are quick to praise and slow to criticize. They offer up appreciation without hesitation, and affection without reservation.

There is so much about living that all the rest of us could learn just by observing the dying.