The Last Mile

Remember that long trip coming home? That last mile?  

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and I recall times when, after a tiring trip on the road, we’d leave the airport, head up the freeway, get off that Topanga exit, drive past Gelson’s Market, turn up our street, and then? We’d pull into the driveway. The porch light was always on, the house was always lit, and with a beep of our horn, our neighbor Carolyn would run out the door to greet us. Yep, after every trip she’d be there early to help us unpack. Her happy smile and hugs all around let me know that we were home. She’d been waiting for us. And if it was winter, the heat would be on, and so would be the kettle. If summer, it was fresh flowers on the kitchen table. Carolyn was our friend whose ministry it was to pack and unpack my bags for every trip. How wonderful it felt to have her – just have her there. Making our house feel like home.  

And it’s funny ’cause I was thinking about Carolyn the other day when reading an update from my friend Dale Meador. Dale is struggling with ALS. He’s a good friend, a pastor, strong follower of Jesus, and so he knows well that, well – he knows he’s on his way home. And yes, he’s deeply spiritual, but he’s also very practical, and he’s packing his bags. He knows he’s on the last long mile of his journey on earth, and he’s heading home. He’s been preaching about heaven for years, and so he knows the familiar road signs on this last leg of the trip. Death is not unfamiliar to this man who has buried many parishioners. Dale has made his soul conversant with thoughts of dying. He has already handled that difficult soon-and-coming day, walking daily in the serious meditation of it.  

As William Gurnall writes, “Do not run from thoughts of death because they are unpleasing, for that is the way to increase the terror of it…instead, bring your heart up close to it; show your soul what Christ has done to it and has taken the sting out of it.” [paraphrase]  

With his ALS, Dale knows that Christ has gone ahead; he’s gone through death and transformed it. Jesus has already assured in John chapter 11: “Whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” Those powerful words sustain Dale Meador for he knows at that passage, when he finally, swiftly slips from this life into the next, he knows the porch light is going to be lit, and he’ll be home. Christian friends long-gone are going to be waiting for him, running out to greet him with happy smiles and warm hugs all around. And Jesus himself will welcome him home for he has been preparing Dale’s place in heaven for a long, long time – like 2000 years. 

Yes, my heart’s heavy for Dale and his family. But it’s ALS Awareness Month, and so, he’s especially on my heart. The way he’s traveling this last difficult mile, to me, is remarkable. And he is teaching me how to make myself, my own soul, familiar with that difficult day yet on my own horizon. And you know what? I am sure when Dale arrives in heaven, my friend Carolyn may well be on the welcoming committee with a hand full of fresh flowers, her own soul having been prepared. Yes, even for Carolyn, Christ took the terror out of her terminal cancer and she’s home. And who knows, maybe she’s getting things ready like she always did for me. Hey, I’ve posted a video today on joniradio.org of my friend Dale. Watch this man speak of his ALS, and learn how to walk daily in the serious meditation of your own last mile, whenever that will be. And thanks for letting me share this hope in your hardship today at joniradio.org. 

© Joni and Friends