It is amazing how quickly life can change! Repairing a smoke detector is not usually hazardous to your health, until it is. Earlier this year, NASCAR luminary driver Kyle Busch decided it was time to repair the device, not realizing such a simple task would mean a trip to the emergency department at the local hospital. Various media outlets indicated a small ladder he was using collapsed under his weight, resulting in a gash to his leg. Just a few weeks later, Kyle would again experience how “life happens” when he contracted pneumonia and sepsis, leading to the 41-year-old’s death.

Many years ago I worked at WDNG news talk radio station in Anniston, Ala. I was dispatched to the town of Talladega to cover the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Texaco Walk of Fame. The town is about 15 miles from the raceway that bears its name. Among the NASCAR dignitaries present, Davey Allison’s widow was present and included as part of the ceremony. A year or so earlier, her husband sustained critical injuries when the helicopter he was riding in crashed in the infield at the Talladega Superspeedway. He would die the next day in a Birmingham hospital. 

While those men died relatively young, I recently delivered the eulogy for my aunt who lived to be 100 years and seven months old. In July 2025, we celebrated her 100th birthday with much grandeur. Just months later I would return to Minneapolis to honor her death. In a lighthearted moment in my remarks, I said I had thought she and Willie Nelson would live forever. Willie is still thriving, but the tapestry of Aunt Mae’s life came to its end with us talking about “what a full life she led.” Living for a century is certainly noteworthy, but in the eternal scheme of things, Kyle Busch and Davey Alison also lived full lives. God knows exactly how long we will live. Heaven was not surprised when Kyle, Davey or Aunt Mae showed up at the proverbial pearly gates. They had lived the full lives the Lord had designed for them.

Several years ago, I saw a young woman interviewed, whose newborn baby died within about 20 minutes. It was a heartbreaking story to hear; however, she shared how God had revealed to her that her baby had lived a full life. The tiny infant’s birth and struggle to live impacted the staff members of the hospital and God no doubt worked in their lives as they contemplated the baby who did not thrive beyond mere minutes. How excruciating it must have been for the young mother to only have a few fleeting moments with her little infant child. 

While comforting his daughter, the great theologian Donald Barnhouse brought death for the Christian into sharp focus. He was driving his children to their mother’s funeral when a large truck passed them. The truck’s enormous shadow passed over their car. The preacher asked his daughter if she would rather be hit by a truck or a truck’s shadow. Naturally, her preference was the shadow of a truck, which ultimately can’t hurt you. No doubt reflecting back on the 23rd Psalm, Reverend Barnhouse explained their mother had not experienced death; rather, the shadow of death. For the Christian, we have already entered eternal life. Relatives may observe us breathe our last respiration, but the fleshly body is by no means the end of the Christian life. The dying person is only experiencing the shadow of death as they pass to a life eternal in heaven’s glorious light.

An oft-quoted phrase in Christian circles paints it in a matter of four words: “Sudden death, sudden glory.”

Tony “T-Bar” Barnes is a 28-year veteran of the Marine Corps and Air Force. He is also retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs and can be reached at tbarnugget@yahoo.com.