24 September 06: This website (www.jerrykline.com) has been created to be an alter of hope; to provide encouragement to people and their loved ones who are faced with a catastrophic illness. As such, the website attempts to present issues realistically, as they truly happened and are happening, but in a positive light wherever possible, lightly seasoned with humor where appropriate.
As seen on the sitemap, there is more to my survivor's story than stiff, clinical medical reporting. More than surgery, radiation treatments, CBCs, chemotherapy and MRIs. I have tried to follow a balanced reporting format because this better represents my life and my refusal, by the grace of God, to be defined by an illness. Part of this attitude is reflected in my 1976 Trans Am, which I purchased in December of 2005 as an identical DNA match to my first Trans Am that I drove when I attended Texas A&M University. I have taken this machine to a number of places and events this year, documenting most of these activities on this website. But even as this Trans Am is a celebration of life, it is also important to recognize the necessity of facing one's mortality. Not a morbid obsession, but a recognition that there is a step that we all take alone; an appointment that we have with the great unknown. It is in the spirit of eternity that I visit the grave of a good friend today. The previous stop was a car show, which pales into utter insignificance compared to this moment in time.
Gary fought the good fight. He was diagnosed with a gbm grade 4 tumor about the time that I received my diagnosis. Supported by his wonderful wife Pam and children Lindsey and Travis, Gary bravely faced cancer like a man; and he died like a man. I look up to him, as he handled brain cancer better than I have handled it. He suffered more than I have suffered. He always had kind eyes, a statement I am not able assert about myself. Gary was attentive to whomever was in the room with him, yet I am often impatient with people. In honor of Gary, I setup a chair at his grave today and prayed and read for awhile, listening to the blended sounds of numerous chimes from all directions and distances.
There is no God but the Lord. There is no Savior but Jesus Christ, and there no spirit but the Holy Spirit. The one God, the Trinity, three expressions of the one and only God, the Creator of the universe, and maker of my heart. His wisdom is unsearchable and He cannot even be known, apart from the revelation given from days of old. There is no literary equal to the Bible. We are given a few years here on this earth and then we vanish into eternity forevermore. So, in view of our brevity, how should we then live? As seen in the passage above (Ecclesiastes 7), it is better to come to a House of Mourning (a cemetery in this case) than to be in a continuous party mode.
God has given us this life to enjoy, and yet the fullness of life cannot be reached or approximated apart from Him. I am easily distracted, so I need get off the highway of hustle and bustle from time to time and meditate on Him rather than having a temporal focus. I read a passage or two from my Bible most everyday, and I frequently pray as I drive to and from work, and now I find reason to sit in solitude and ponder the mysteries of life. I have sinned and deserve hell. Jesus died for me; I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, so my transgressions have been swept away. I want to live for Him. I am driven to be pleasing to Him in all things.
How about you? Are you prepared to meet your Maker? What will you say when asked by the Lord of Lords: "Why should I let you into my heaven? On what basis do you approach Me?" It is high time to get briefed on the unspeakable benefits of eternal life.
Time to go, but I'll be back, by the grace of God, to visit Gary again in the Field of Mourning.
Next Stop: a free car wash.
