The End of an Era

There are some people who are larger than life, who change the course of the way people live and work, who will be remembered and talked about as long as there are people on earth. Steve Jobs was one of those people, and today, he passed away at the young age of 56. And the thing is ... I didn't even know who he was until my sons went Apple crazy ... iPods, Mac computers, iPhones, iPads ... their infatuation with all things Apple, coupled with my entrance into a career in advertising, caused me to pay attention to Mr. Jobs and the products of his company ... a little company that began in a garage and grew into a multi-billion dollar venture.

Tonight as I was reading a lengthy article about his passing, I was amazed once again at all the things he accomplished in his relatively short lifetime. I couldn't help but feel sad as I read, wondering what else he would have done had he lived to a ripe old age. But for all the accolades in the article, for all the recounting of his personal and business successes and failures, it was a quote from Jobs' commencement address at Stanford University in 2005 after his first bout with cancer that struck me the most.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," he said. "Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."

I don't understand how anyone can face death and not be changed in some way ... changed in the way they live each day, changed in the way they spend their time, changed in the way they treat others, changed in the way they walk with God. Getting a glimpse at one's own mortality and recognizing the true brevity of this life must change a person somehow ... perhaps for some, it causes them to strive to improve who they are; perhaps for others, it causes them to become bitter and angry. Facing death must, must, must change a person ... it simply must. 

"Leaving only what is truly important" ... as I read those words, I couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Jobs had a relationship with God ... ultimately, after all, in the face of death, that is the only thing that is important ... where a person stands in their relationship with the one true God. My prayers are with Mr. Jobs' family and friends tonight as they grieve his passing ... his death truly does mark the end of an era for the world, but for those who loved him, it is so much more ... so much more.