A Life Well Lived
Tomorrow I head to northern Indiana to give the service at my grandfather’s funeral. John D. Majors passed away last Thursday. He was 99 years old. To me he was the original “most interesting man in the world.” I often marveled at how tough and adventurous Grandpa was. He took us deep sea fishing, he flew his own plane, was a World War 2 veteran, ran an Emu farm with his brother, was a skilled carpenter, and survived who knows how many motorcycle wrecks and joint replacements. When he wasn’t working he was either hunting, fishing, or preparing to do one or the other.
Clint Eastwood, when asked recently what was the key to his longevity, said, “Don’t let the old man in.” It seems Grandpa gave little respect to age. We showed up to visit a few years ago, when he was 93, he and his wife were still golfing every day. I noticed a broken yard blower sitting next to the house. He said it broke when it fell off the roof. How did it get on the roof? He was up there blowing leaves off.
Tender Warrior
There’s a phrase that has stood out to me about him that comes from a book written by former Green Beret Stu Weber. It’s called “Tender Warrior.” I think the order should be reversed for Grandpa, because I knew him as the warrior first, but later in life I saw the tender side come out. When my Grandma was sick with cancer, nearing her final days, I watched him love on her and care for her with a kindness and tenderness I hadn’t seen before. The cancer eventually took her, leaving him single after 50 years of marriage. I think he barely slept for a few years till he met his second wife. When I first met her, I watched him treat her with a kindness and respect that showed more of his tender side. I Corinthians 16:13-14 sums his journey up for me: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do, be done in love.”
One thing he modeled to me is growth. I want to be that way. I want to stay active and be growing and changing all the way up until the end. He was always a warrior, and yet I watched him grow and become more tender over time with his loved ones. It’s the Gospel that does that in our lives, that helps us grow, become more teachable, more approachable, able to admit wrong, better at extending and receiving forgiveness, and the wisdom to know how to become a tender warrior.
Photo by Vlad Chețan