Our Last Meal on Earth

Our Own Green Mile

“And I think about all of us walking our own green mile… …each in our own time.” – The Green Mile

I’ve been reflecting on this quote for a couple days and really letting it resonate within me. The quote comes The Green Mile, a movie that stars Tom Hank as the head of Death Row during the Great Depression. He’s reflecting on his life and the lives of those that have come to pass and comparing them to those same lives he used to oversee as they waited until their death and took their final walk down the Green Mile to the execution chair. He decided we’re all walking our own Green Mile, some people’s last longer, but the same fate awaits us both.

As I pondered this thought and examined my life a lot of things faded out and a lot of things focused in. I guess when you examine the shortness of life and the importance of each day, binge watching the newest Netflix show seems pretty trivial. Life is short, it’s often compared in the Bible as a mist, a vapor, a shadow, and so on. When we take that mindset up it allows us to truly focus on the important things in our lives.

The Final Meal

As I reflected on walking my own green mile I quickly thought of what happens just before the last walk. That final meal. I’ve thought about it a lot over the years, what my last meal would be and finally I came across my answer. I didn’t care and truly I don’t. For me it’s always been less about what I’m eating and more of who I’m with. Family and friends have truly changed my life and God has used them at every stage of my life to get me through, speak wisdom, love me, encourage me, support me, and many times God has used them to show me His own characteristics.

When we reflect on the shortness of life I think we’d all have the same response as I had to our last meal and why wouldn’t we? If we asked those same people in the movie or in real life, they would agree with us in a heartbeat. Wouldn’t we all trade in an expensive steak dinner with all the fixings by ourselves for a final meal with the ones we love best, even if it was something as simple as a ham and cheese sandwich and some potato chips?

So What Are We Doing?!?!

I grew up in a family where everyone was on the go. Sometimes we went places that mattered like practices or work and other times we just went to our rooms, but sometimes we would enjoy eating together while watching tv. It wasn’t until I grew up and started appreciating and desiring things like being with my family that I realized we never took time to do them together. The children of the house didn’t want to be around the parents and the parents didn’t want to force us so we did our own thing and once in a blue moon we would gather together around a nice meal and actually talk about our lives. I wish I was a minority in that upbringing but as the world speeds up and kids grow up faster it seems just the opposite. This way of living is more and more normal and it won’t be until it’s to late (when the kids have graduated and left, when at the hands of death we lose a loved one) that we will truly realized what we missed out all those times when we could have been together.

Recent studies show that parents have just under 40 minutes of meaningful conversation with their children each week. It averages to be just over 5 minutes a day truly building and encouraging your children and knowing how their life is. They also show an increase in grades and a decrease in deviant behavior or problems whether it be eating disorders or drugs. It all stems from being in an engaging and positive setting. Besides the statistics, eating together allows you to better ministry and get to know your children because it gives you extra bonding time together every day to recount how your days are going and what’s going on in your lives.

Eating together will take more time, more discipline, and work but I assure you it is worth it. Life is to short to let the small moments like enjoying a meal with the ones we love closest to slip by every day. So as you walk your own green mile alongside your family don’t be afraid to go above and beyond and make the most out of every day you have with each other.  Because truth be told, we don’t know how much time we have and if you’re not careful you could experience your last meal by yourself instead of with your loving family.