Who Said It
Os Guinness

Os Guinness was born in China, where his parents were medical missionaries, and educated in England, with a doctorate from Oxford University. He has lived in the United States since 1984, serving as a scholar in several secular and Christian "think tanks." His passion is to take academically important public policy issues and make them intelligible and practicable to a wider audience.

What He Said
Tunnel Vision

Facing the prospect of a suspected brain tumor, I was in a hospital in northern Virginia ready to undergo a brain scan. A nurse entered the room briskly and said, "Excuse my asking, but are you claustrophobic?"

"No," I answered.

"Good," she said. "Some people can't take the scanner. Our nickname for it is the 'coffin machine.'"

"Thanks very much," I replied lightly.

Five minutes later it was hard to get her words out of my mind. Both that session and the next turned out to be an unexpected time of personal review. Just as a drowning person sees his life flash before his eyes, so I saw the years of my life scroll across my mind as I lay in my "coffin." Each memory was alive with sights and sounds and smells. I shivered at the still-unrealized potential of hopes, dreams, and fears. I felt again the wonder of this brief but glorious journey of life. As Winston Churchill said in the last days of his life, "It has been a grand journey—well worth making once."

—Os Guinness in Long Journey Home

Adapted from Long Journey Home (WaterBrook, 2001) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Thank you, Lord, for the hope of heaven. Use it in my earthly life to inspire and sustain my passion and purpose.

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