50 Over 95

In yesterday's closing session at the conference in Arizona, Tony Campolo hit it out of the park. Naturally. It's what he does. He stands there in front of the audience with a few notes scratched on pages from the notepad in his hotel room. He's been doing this for decades, and he's not so concerned with what people think of him anymore. He just tells it like it is.

Yesterday, he shared with us the results of a study in which fifty people over the age of ninety-five were asked, "If you had it do over again, what would you do differently?"

Those fifty people gave three answers. If they had it to do over again, they said, they would risk more, reflect more, and do more things that would live on after they're gone.

Tony took those three answers and wove tough and gritty stories for us of how it would look to live like that and - I've got to be honest - I've gotten stuck in a rut of American Dreams and safety nets and comfortable living.

When my life is done and the funeral service is over, I don't want the people sitting in fellowship hall after my ashes have been scattered to look at each other over their fried chicken and potato salad and say, "She sure lived a safe and comfortable life." But that's exactly where I'm headed. If I'm not careful, that's the legacy I'll leave behind.

The last words Tony Campolo said yesterday, before he shuffled back to his chair in the corner of the ballroom at The Boulders were these: "If you can't learn anything from fifty people over the age of ninety-five, then you can't learn anything from anyone."

~~~

With Michelle...