Last July, a man named Randy Pausch passed away after battling pancreatic cancer.  A professor at Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Pausch has become well-known for a speech he gave at his university that became known as The Last Lecture.  Many professors had given “Last Lectures,” where they imparted the wisdom they would want others to know if they only had one last lecture to give.  For Dr. Pausch, however, his Last Lecture was a reality, as had was losing a battle to terminal cancer.  In that lecture, Dr. Pausch was engaging, bright, and shared deeply moving words about achieving childhood dreams and really living life to the fullest.  The Last Lecture became an international phenomenon, landing him on Oprah and spawning a book based on the same principles.

As wonderful as the Last Lecture was to listen to, there are a couple of things that are hard to say but important to make clear.  If there is no God, and if this life is really all there is, than Dr. Pausch did about as well as one could do.  He lived life to the full, touched innumerable lives, went out with a bang, and in the end created more than one thing that will outlive him.  But if there is no God, then Dr. Pausch is no more.  He can not enjoy the success or impact he has had, and more than likely he will be forgotten in 100 years.  And that is a tragedy.

This past week, another woman died.  She was not a university professor, nor did she have any inventions to her name.  She never appeared on Oprah or wrote any books.  Her greatest accomplishments were as a wife and mother to her two children.  Her name was Rachel Barkey.  But Rachel had a couple of things in common with Dr. Pausch.  The first is that she was diagnosed with terminal cancer well before her time, dying of cancer at the age of 37, four and a half years after being diagnosed with breast cancer.  The second is that she also gave a “Last Lecture.”  Originally meant to be a talk to 20 women at her church, it became a speech given to 600 women in her home city of Vancouver (you can hear the talk and read more about Rachel at www.deathisnotdying.com).

Rachel may have been one woman living across the continent from us, but in her talk, she shares the difference the gospel makes, especially in the life of someone who knows they will die soon.  Her talk is entitled “Death is not Dying,” because for those who know Jesus Christ, “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).  Because of the gospel, death is not the end for Rachel, or for anyone who dies knowing God.  And because of the gospel, her talk, while it probably will never become as famous as the one given by Dr. Pausch, will have an impact that lasts into eternity.  If you have an hour to spare, I would encourage you to listen to Rachel Barkey as she shares why “Death is not Dying”.

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