Chris Stepien - Dying to Be Happy: Discovering the Truth About Life

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DYING TO BE HAPPY

Copyright 2016 Christopher L. Stepien,

Stepien Creative Services, Inc.

Published by Beacon Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Note: The stories in this book are true. In some cases, names have been changed and details omitted to protect the anonymity of private individuals.

Cover design: Leah Nienas

Interior: Finer Points Productions

ISBN: 978-1-942611-62-2 (hard cover)

ISBN: 978-1-942611-63-9 (soft cover)

eISBN: 978-1-942611-64-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Stepien, Chris, author.

Title: Dying to be happy : discovering the truth about life / Chris Stepien.

Description: North Palm Beach, FL : Beacon Pub., 2016. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016014042 (print) | LCCN 2016014454 (ebook) |

ISBN 9781942611622 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781942611639 (softcover) | ISBN 9781942611646 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Happiness--Religious aspects--Christianity. |

Death--Religious aspects--Christianity. | Life--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Classification: LCC BV4647.J68 S745 2016 (print) | LCC BV4647.J68 (ebook) | DDC 233--dc23

2016014042

Printed in the United States of America [1]

To my darling Ellen,

Thank God he brought us togetherfor life.

Contents

Preface

Ill keep you in my prayers.

That promise is often a sign of trouble. The mere whiff of death has a way of making people more serious about faith. Hospitalization and surgeries, depression and suicides, exotic medical treatments, car crashes, falls, aging, pain, and difficult diseases are the seeds and fertilizer for genuine prayer.

Pleas for healing and miracles fill social media pages, e-mail prayer chains, and long lists of Mass intentions.

On the other hand, some people beg for death to comenow.

Lets not forget were all dying every day. Today youre as young as youll ever be. This could be your last sunrise or sunset.

How tight are you with your Maker?

If God calls your name before you turn this page, will you be ready for your homecoming?

Your happiness is in your dying hands.

ONE

You Fool

November 24, 2014

My wife has breast cancer.

Its aggressive. Were waiting for the surgeon at the university cancer center. Its Monday of Thanksgiving week, and the oncologist has just left the room. It turns out there is a new treatment strategy, and it doesnt matter whether Ellen has a mastectomy or undergoes chemotherapy first. But time is of the essence. So shell have her right breast removed just before Christmas and start the New Year with a steady diet of poison plus cancer drugs. The medication will continue for a full year, long after the four months of chemo are done, most likely pouring through a port at the top of her chest right above her heart. Cardiac damage is one of the drugs potential side effects.

I can almost certainly guarantee you will not have nausea and vomiting, said the physician with assurance. But I can definitely guarantee you will lose your hair.

Truthfully, this respected and caring expert couldnt be certain of any outcomeexcept that Ellen will die. But it may not be the cancer that kills her. She might trip on her shoelace and sustain a head injury in the hospital parking garage. Or be crushed in a rollover crash on our way home when the driver of a semitrailer loses control of his rig in the windblown rain. Or my lovely wife may simply never wake up after we kiss goodnight and doze off.

Perhaps it will be my soul that slips away in the dark, while Ellen goes on to live twenty years without me.

Only one thing is certain. Guaranteed. No one is getting out of this life alive. We just hate to admit it. Is that because its frightening? Unknowable?

Have you bought life insurance? Completed your will? Pre-planned your funeral? Staked out a cemetery plot? Maybe.

But have you thought much about judgment day?

Why is it easier to forget or procrastinate than prepare for our appointment with the grim reaper and our Creator?

Jesus frequently reminded his contemporaries of their death denial. One of his parables features a rich landowner who reaped an unusually abundant harvest. He knocked down his barns and built new, bigger silos to store up his huge surplus. The fortunate farmer made plans to party and live carefree, thanks to his newfound wealth. However, the Lord provided a surprise twist to teach the harsh truth about life.

God said to him, You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong? Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God. (Luke 12:2021)

We are going to die. Dont ever forget it. Our stay here is temporary. While were alive, our mission is to serve God. That is what lasts forever.

Even the prayer Jesus taught his disciples reminds us of our mortality. Give us this day our daily bread

Not an annual harvest. Not a monthly allowance, not even a weeks worth. Just food for today. Enough to get by, from sunrise to sunset. Tomorrow is not included. And youre not entitled to it, no matter how convinced you are youll pass that momentous milestone; ace that entrance exam; win the big game; throw the party of a lifetime; buy your dream house; watch your kids grow up, or play with your grandchildren and see them graduate.

We cannot earn these things; no matter how hard we work, study, diet, exercise, and invest to secure their likelihood. They are blessings, not dividends. Yet we often obsess about building enough wealth or making provisions to insure future plans.

Dont worry about tomorrow, the Lord advises. Today offers enough to keep us busy, especially if were truly living in the moment. Besides, Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Jesus asks in Matthew 6:27.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25)

Of course, it is. And anxiety doesnt lengthen life. In fact, worrying tends to shorten it and make the days we have miserable and our nights sleepless.

If you worry, why pray? And if you pray, why worry? Those are the words of a poor grandmother as she faced serious surgery for a disfiguring and disabling condition. The woman had just opened her home to her underemployed son, his wife, and young family. She was uncertain how things would play out, but she was willing to leave them in Gods hands.

Have you ever gone to great efforts to make a series of backup plans, only to have the original arrangements go just fine? Or better yet, planned for every contingency and then have the event cancelled? How often do the things you worry about come true? How often do wonderful surprises occur in your life? Do you ever get the feeling that youre blessed by divine intervention? That youve got a friend upstairs? You do.

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