Through this assignment given to me by God, I prayed, "May I become a person with a beautiful end." What is the difference between someone who grows greater and greater as they go, someone who began small but ended beautifully, and someone who began well but ended poorly? What is the cause of the change in their lives? The difference lies in whether or not they have lost their spiritual sense of God.
Those who end beautifully are those who kept their eyes fixed on God until the very end. On the other hand, those who end poorly are those who have lost their spiritual sense, worshipped idols, and succumbed to pride. In other words, it's the difference between those who have lost their original intention and those who have not. While fundamental loyalty must remain constant, they have unconsciously forgotten the beautiful experiences they had when they first believed and have come to regard them as ordinary.
Those days when they could talk to the Lord all night without a break, when they were incessantly boasting about their husband, when they were anxious for nothing to offer, were truly heartbreaking and happy times. The mere mention of Jesus brought tears to their eyes, they yearned for and longed for His power, and they made every effort to put His love into practice. But at some point, that passion, that love, began to fade. They had lost their first love, and the thrill of the gospel was gone. Only the obligatory acts of self-reliance remained.
When God loses his first love, he removes the candlestick. What good can life be then? It becomes utterly dark. Life is all about being robbed. Therefore, let's not lose our original intentions so we can laugh heartily at the end. Love God, live by His commandments, and live the life He desires. Surely, your end will be truly beautiful.
Suddenly, I want to share a story that touched my heart. It's the confession of a doctor who heads Joseph's Clinic. He was a leading authority in his field, a professor. Surprisingly, he gave up his professorship and chose a path that involved caring for the homeless and wanderers who couldn't afford to pay a penny.
Shortly after he began this work, a man who had been wandering from place to place after being released from prison came to visit. In a fit of rage, he killed someone. As a result, he spent 20 years in prison, but when he was released, there was no one in the world who would take him in.
While wandering, he fell ill, and it turned out to be lung cancer. The director wanted to treat him as a human being, not as a doctor or a facility director, but as a person like him. He wanted to make him feel, "You're no longer alone." The director did his best to treat him. However, his body couldn't withstand the chemotherapy. He couldn't move at all and died. The doctor must have been deeply grieving. Wiping his eyes, which were so moist they almost burst into tears, he confessed:
"I wept involuntarily at the thought of how helplessly I had spent my life in this world. I've been at a university hospital for over 20 years, experiencing countless deaths, yet I've never shed tears. But then I started to cry. It felt like I'd been hit hard on the head. I vaguely understood what I was supposed to do here."
He was constantly ashamed of the angels there. One time, a homeless patient was brought to the hospital, paralyzed from the waist down. He had not washed for so long that his entire body reeked of odor. Treatment required washing his feet and anus, but because of the stench, he couldn't bring himself to do so. Then, a volunteer quietly undressed the wanderer, doused his feet with warm water several times, and kissed them. At that moment, the volunteer's expression seemed to vanish, and he thoroughly washed his feet and the area around his anus. To him, this scene was "the most sacred and beautiful scene."
He, who had been busy with worldly affairs, who had enjoyed all manner of high positions and honors, now learned to smile with a sincere heart and found a life filled with gratitude. I was deeply moved by the purity of his heart. Yes, a person whose first heart endures until death is truly a person whose last breath is beautiful. Even in old age, he still sheds passionate tears for his soul, overflowing with gratitude, a person who truly lives a rich life.
