Today is June 30, 2012. Kim Lehn died today, therefore, today was not a day of defeat but a day of victory. Today was not a day for mourning but a day of triumph.
Kim Lehn fought cancer for over seven years - that's more than 2.555 days that she defeated death and embraced life. She never gave up and she never surrendered. With the heart of a lion and the faith of an apostle, she knew life was a precious miracle and she refused to willingly give in to the darkness. Kim always reminded me of the poem by Dylan Thomas, "Do not go gentle into that good night...rage against the dying of the light." She was a fighter not a quitter, a winner not a loser, a believer not a doubter.
We all knew that Kim's death was inevitible, because in reality, it is for all of us. At some time in our lives each one of us will succumb to death when our bodies can no longer perform all the chemical processes they need to perform to support our bodily functions. For Kim, we knew that point was close because for Kim, staying active, working, walking, sending out her weekly e-mails was so important to her. We watched as cancer slowly ate away at those things she loved to do. Yet for those who watched a bit from afar, who were not part of her family or close intimate circle, what we continued to witness was a courageous woman who refused to relax and let her illness take its course. What we saw was her noble and unrelenting fight to stay in the game of life, her desire to eake every bit of the joy and beauty of life out of life, and her deep desire and love not only for her family, but for everyone else who was fighting his or her own life's battles. She never wrote an e-mail that did not share a list of those to pray for, nor did she ever neglect to include an encouraging poem to share.
Kim had a lot of people who cared about her and who tried to fight her fight along with her. But in the end, we all must admit that the fight really was her's alone. That's why her battle with cancer was so amazing. She is the one who suffered, not that other's didn't, but she alone bore the physical pain of the disease and the knowledge of early death. And still, even at the end, she kept fighting.
What we need to keep in mind though, is not that Kim kept beating back death, because that makes death the focus. What Kim did was embrace life. For Kim, it was all about life and the beauty of life, the witnessing of growth, the maturing of her children, the simple joy of giving a haircut and conversing with her customers, the enjoyment of a walk, the blooming of flowers after a long winter, or the feeling of a cool drink of water on a hot summer's day. It was these simple joys of life that Kim sought and wanted to keep experiencing, because she saw that miracles happened every day. I don't know if Kim had a true sense of the miracle of everyday life before her illness or not, but I'm sure she honed her appreciation of it over her years of cancer treatments. That, I think, is the message I take from Kim's life. And that, I think, would be what Kim would want us all to take away from her struggle. Life is real, life is precious. Act today, enjoy, care and love.
A Psalm of Life
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solenm main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solenm main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Thank you, Kim, for your lessons to us as you struggled bravely for life. May you now experience true life, in the presence of the Living God, in that place that is more wonderful than we could ever imagine. It won't be long till we see you again. But until then, we'll give thanks for every day that we can smell the fresh air, drink that cool glass of refreshing water, and experience God's glorious world!
