Date: 9/2/2008
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: Reality Check
<br><br>I didn't think a thing about it....not one thing.  Oh, I was sorry to hear that he had passed away, but the death of comedian Bernie Mac a few weeks ago did not strike me as anything really different from the death of anyone else.  It did remind me, once again, that regardless of fame or fortune, we all have a destiny with our Maker and that we are not guaranteed a single minute more on this side of eternity than the one in which we currently inhabit.  I liked Bernie Mac and thought he was funny and all, but I figured the only thing he and I had in common was the fact that we both would die someday and that he just happened to beat me to it.  The Sunday following the death of Mr. Mac, our resident Fairfield physician, Dawn James, was talking about him and mentioned that one of the reported reasons for the demise of Bernie Mac was a lung condition called Sarcoidosis.  At the time, I was not involved in the conversation with Dawn, but I quickly interrupted and asked her to recant her statement again.  Sure enough, she said exactly the same thing the second time that she had said the first time....the lung disease Sarcoidosis probably contributed to the untimely death of this world famous man.  Now, death as a partial result of Sarcoidosis may not mean that much to you, in fact, you may have never heard of this condition.  But, it caused me to quickly jump up and take notice, for you see, several years ago I was diagnosed with the same disease.<br><br>Sarcoidosis is a relatively unknown disease brought about by relatively unknown causes.  It can affect many different organs of the body, though roughly 90% of the cases are found to be in the lungs, which is where mine was found.  The prognosis for Sarcoidosis can range anywhere from it completely disappearing, to lung removal, to death.  Thankfully, when I was diagnosed, the condition was fairly minor and only required me to have an annual chest x-ray to make sure it wasn't progressively getting any worse.  Well, as you might imagine, the first year or two after diagnosis I was very diligent about getting the x-ray done.  But, over the last few years, regardless of the prompting/pushing by my beloved bride and her mother-in-law, I have not been as loyal to Mr. X-ray as I should be.  Like other fellow procrastinators, I seem to have always found something more important that needed to be done.  I mean c'mon....isn't mowing the grass far more important than checking to make sure the possible life-threatening disease you have isn't getting any worse?  Apparently I thought it was....until Bernie Mac died.  All of a sudden, I realized just how important getting that regular x-ray was to me and my family.  By the way....after not having an x-ray done for the last 3 years, I had one done last week and everything came back O.K.  From now on, cutting the grass or taking out the trash just won't seem as important anymore.<br><br>Why does it take tragedy in the life of someone else to slap us back into reality when nothing else will?  Some smokers think twice about that cigarette when they hear of someone dying from lung cancer....sun bathers think the same when they hear of a person dying from skin cancer....those who love that pinch between their “cheek and gum” wonder if the taste is worth having their lower jaw removed....and of course, what about those of us who overeat, live a promiscuous lifestyle, drive too fast, abuse alcohol, etc. etc. etc.  Now you may be thinking, “I must be doing pretty good, I don't fit in any of those categories.”  Well, hold the band just a moment, I have a group that we all fit in.....SIN.  Oh sure, we might give death a second thought when someone around our age dies or after we have made a visit to the funeral home.  But, many of us just really think that death is an event far into the future and that it is on a horizon many, many miles and many, many years away....and it may be....and it may not be.<br><br>Please....don't wait for someone else's death to motivate you to face the reality of your own.  Let me be frank with you....YOU ARE GOING TO DIE SOMEDAY....YOU ARE GOING TO STAND BEFORE GOD TO BE JUDGED....YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY (FOREVER) IN EITHER HEAVEN OR HELL.....PERIOD.   You know how we always think it will be somebody else that the bad thing will happen to or that they will be the one who dies first?  Guess what, that “somebody else” is thinking the same thing about you.  Someone is eventually going to be right....will it be you or them?<br><br>Go the extra mile - Devin