Final Instructions Before Departure

If you have traveled much you know the drill. Just before departure, your flight attendants will stand at the front of the cabin giving you the most important information you need to know as a passenger. Of course, the majority of us aren’t paying attention because the material is basically irrelevant as long as the flight is a smooth, crisis free.

Life is never a smooth, crisis free flight - that is one thing I’m pretty certain about. We will experience turbulence, engine failure, pilot error, technology breakdowns, hostile takeovers, rough landings, and sometimes we’ll even nosedive and crash. We need to pay a little more attention to those final instructions before departure. They tend to come by way of those "life attendants" who have been on the journey for some time.

What would you say if you knew it was going to be your last conversation? What would you write if you knew it was going to be your last letter? What would be the last thoughts and life lessons you would want to leave for your family, friends and others? What would your final instructions be?

These kinds of questions reveal our core values, purpose and passion. They remind us of what is truly essential – how we should spend our time, energy and resources. It is important to reflect on those questions now because most of us will never know when that final communication is going to come. And those who live according to their core values inevitably leave a lasting legacy.


Computer Science Professor Randy Pausch had an opportunity to reflect on these questions. On September 18, 2007 he stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver his last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told of the cancer that was devouring his pancreas and would claim his life in a matter of months. His lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all, for generations to come.

Randy wasn’t approaching this lecture from a Christian perspective, but he still has a great deal of wisdom to share. You can watch the entire lecture below. Join us Sunday as we look to Hebrews 13 for wisdom and talk about Final Instructions Before Departure.