10. Your Last Hour

In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. –Luke 22: 44

As Jesus was living his last hours on earth, he did what he loved most. He sat with his friends and he loved. He loved in so many ways it boggles our all-to-human minds.

He ate. In his last hours, he chewed the unleavened bread. He dipped it in oil and looked at his friends and savored the bitter yeast and the sweet grain. He lavished in the richness of the oil and the sacred moment with those who he’d traveled for three years.

He drank. He poured the wine and said remember, “You have to start over.” He talked about forgiveness and toasted the grace that is each new moment in a way that 2000 years later we still find sacred and precious. In his last moments he gave a toast so profound millions deliver it daily, in fact, hourly throughout the world.

He was honest. He told his friends what he thought of them, and made it clear that he was going to die. He told them how he was going to die and that even though he would be betrayed, he loved them and that they would end up in heaven together. The truth is only painful if we are attached to this life. He embraced eternal life, and so he spoke without fear.

He prayed. He spoke without fear, but he didn’t want to die. He gave his life because he knew he had to; so he prayed.

What would you do with your last hours? Why are you not doing it now?

No one can possibly know what is about to happen: it is happening, each time, for the first time, for the only time.
–James Baldwin


What would you do if you had just a few more hours to live?