If I Were Dying

Fr. di Antonio Spadaro, S.J.

"Remember that I will die soon is the most important tool I've ever met to make the big choices in life": these are the words that Steve Jobs delivered June 12, 2005 in a famous speech to the graduates of Stanford. This "commencement address", was a unique opportunity for him to tell himself. Re-read this speech on the day that Steve Jobs has left this earth is probably a good way to honor him. And Steve is right. His words echo those of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, who believes that one way to make a good choice in life is to do "as if I were dying, and so smooth, I'll believe my decision ( Spiritual Exercises, 186). Death is not the case of Ignatius and Steve a bogey, but the finding that the fears, the futility and embarrassment disappear before the thought of death and what really counts is what is really important for us.I do not know if Jobs was a believer. From this discussion it is not claimed much. Here I simply speak of the inner disposition to make meaningful choices in life, focusing on what matters. No man, believer or unbeliever, can make choices in life thinking of himself as immortal.

Link (here) to Italian Jesuit di Antonio Spadaro, S.J.