{source}<iframe style=”float: Left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #c0c0c0; padding: 2px; margin: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;” width=”400″ height=”225″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/CztT_pBFQv8?Rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>{/source}I tuned in Monday night to hear what Jimmy Fallon would say about his accident. A few weeks ago he tripped on a braided rug in his kitchen and while falling, caught his wedding ring on the kitchen counter. He thought he had broken his finger but when he arrived at the emergency room they told him it was a “ring avulsion.” His finger had actually been torn from his hand. Fallon was immediately transported to another hospital where he underwent a six-hour microsurgery to successfully reattach his finger. The comedian spent the next ten days in the ICU. Those ten days are the reason I wanted to write this blog post.
Jimmy Fallon was born in Brooklyn, attended Catholic school and describes his childhood as idyllic. He said that serving as an altar boy caused him to consider becoming a priest but he chose to be a comedian instead. During his ten days in ICU, Fallon said he read a book by Viktor Frankl titled Man’s Search for Meaning. He held the book up and told the audience that he had come to realize that his own purpose in life was to be on television and make people laugh – even in the hard times.
Ten days in a hospital ICU is bound to have an impact on a person. I think it will be interesting to see if that impact will be a lasting one in Fallon’s life. He made a significant effort to thank the doctors and nurses who had helped him during his hospital stay. Jim and I have stood in the ICU many times and prayed with the family members and friends of a critically ill person. It is very probable that Jimmy Fallon saw a lot of people lose their lives during those ten days. I imagine he heard furtive conversations and the sounds of grief mixed with the mechanical beeps of the ICU monitors. Fallon spent ten days with people who would either be saved to resume their lives or would move from this life to eternity. It is no wonder that he wanted to take time to consider the meaning of life.
I watched Fallon’s face as he told his story. There were times he held back emotions and times he had to tell a joke or change the subject in order to maintain his composure. He experienced a trauma and an increased sensitivity is usually part of recovery. Typically, as life returns to normalcy, that increased sensitivity does as well. I wish I could tell Jimmy Fallon to continue considering the meaning of his life. I wish I could remind him of what Jesus said about the subject.
Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus were some of Jesus’ closest friends. Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days when Jesus met Martha on the road to Bethany. Martha was grieving her brother’s death and Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again” (John 11:23). Martha believed Jesus was speaking of a final resurrection at the end of time, but Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
Martha’s answer to Jesus’ question illustrates how to find the deepest meaning of this earthly life. She said, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” I wish I could give that truth to every person lying in an ICU bed. I wish I could explain salvation to all of the people who experience a trauma and realize that this life is fragile and temporary.
Scripture describes the unsaved people in this world as lost and without hope. I hope that Jimmy Fallon believes Martha’s words, and trusts Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. I hope he realizes that making people laugh is a fine job, but he has a higher purpose in this life as well. I wish he would use his opportunity on television for something more than just making people laugh.
All of us who have found faith in Christ have found the deepest meaning for our earthly lives. We exist to help others live eternally with God, through faith in our Messiah. The readership of this blog will pass by thousands of souls every day. Would we each spend a few moments to consider the meaning of our lives? Will people receive salvation this week as a result?
Jesus told Martha that whoever believes in him as the “resurrection and the life” will never die. Then he asked her, “Do you believe this?” What we say and do today will be our answer to his question.
{jcomments lock}