“See you in the Kingdom”
One day, while visiting at the prison, we got into a
discussion as to just what it would take to live life as a Christian every day. What factor would motivate that kind of
commitment? The group finally decided
that it would require a mindset of living each day as if it was the last day of
your life. The group agreed to try it
out the following Wednesday in order to give everyone the time to mentally and
spiritually prepare. All agreed that as
a helpful reminder and encouragement, whenever they encountered someone from
the group on Wednesday, they would greet them by saying, “See you in the
Kingdom.”
By mid-morning on Wednesday my phone started ringing. The Prison Administrator on the other end of
the call sounded concerned. He explained that as soon as the morning wakeup
bell sounded, the inmates were heard yelling out, “See you in the Kingdom”. The phrase was heard throughout breakfast and
everywhere the inmates went afterward. “The
guards are afraid that it’s some sort of escape signal,” he said. I quickly put his concerns at ease as I
explained what was really going on.
I went to the prison the next Saturday and didn’t even
get past the guardhouse. The guards all
wanted to share how great of a day it was on Wednesday. Everyone was happy and cooperative. The stories flowed continually from the
inmates to the guards to the administrative staff all morning. The group decided to try to make every
Wednesday a “See you in the Kingdom” day with the hope that just perhaps it
could eventually spread to every day.
I shared the story with my parish in my homily the
following weekend. The concept generated
some buzz in the after-Mass conversations.
On Tuesday I received a call from the parish office
letting me know that two of my closest friends from the parish had been in a
serious car accident the evening before.
A drunk driver had crossed the center line and hit them head on. The husband, Jim, escaped serious injury, but
his wife Barb was killed. I agreed to
meet with Jim at the funeral home the next morning and finalize the plans for
the service.
The next morning, I stopped in front of the funeral home
front door and said a quick prayer.
These meetings are always hard on my heart. I sighed deeply and went inside. Jim was already there and waiting for
me. We embraced. Tears flowed freely. Finally, Jim broke the embrace.
“I’m so glad that we were at Mass this weekend and
heard your story about the guys in the prison.
Barb and I were so excited that we agreed to put the plan into action. I had already taken a couple of days of
vacation to get some yardwork done, but I scrapped those plans as we agreed
that wouldn’t be how we would spend the day if it were our last.”
“As soon as she woke up, Barb smiled at me and said, “See
you in the Kingdom.” We had a leisurely
breakfast and enjoyed our coffee out on the patio. We took a drive without any real destination
in mind. We managed to find some friends
at home and had a great visit. We
stopped at every little park along the way.
We watched the squirrels and listened to the birds. We found a little country church. No one was there, but the door was
unlocked. We went in and sat in
silence. Just sitting there, holding
Barb’s hand was one of the most powerful prayer experiences I ever had. We ended up at Barb’s parents’ home late in the
day and stayed for supper. We enjoyed
the visit so much that we stayed much later than we would have if we had
planned the visit.”
“Just a few minutes down the road, Barb stretched and
yawned. “Oh, I don’t think I can keep my
eyes open.” She smiled at me and said, “See
you in the Kingdom.” She closed her
eyes. The accident happened just around
the next curve.”
Deacon Tom Wagnitz
Author/Editor Note: We are going through an arctic blast here this
week, with temperatures below zero. It’s
a stay-inside couple of days. My wife
Michelle was inspired to see this as an opportunity to sort through and
organize a couple big boxes of family pictures and treasures. One of the treasures that she came across was
a binder that my sister-in-law put together for all of the surviving siblings
when my brother Tom unexpectantly passed away from a heart attack in 1993 at
the age of 48. Tom was a devoted family
man and ordained Catholic deacon who loved large. He especially enjoyed serving those in
prison. He was a keen observer of
people, and the binder is filled with encounters he had with various
individuals throughout his life and ministry.
Many of the pages are brief, just sharing a quick exchange or observation. I see it as kind of a 'pieces and parts' collection. Some pages though have
enough detail to pull together a complete story.
I was particularly moved by two pages that framed what
I presented above as a single essay. While
I provided the editing, the facts of this true story are Tom’s lived
experience. I hope that his wife and
children who will no doubt recognize the story, graciously allow me this unique
opportunity to collaborate with my big brother.
It was both an honor and a blessing.
“See you in the Kingdom, Tom.”
His Peace <><
Deacon Dan
Photo by Zulmaury Saavedra on Unsplash
Comments
Post a Comment