The World's Gonna Lose a Great Man!

To "die empty" is to fulfill Jesus' call to "live life full!"

In loving memory of Walker Franklin Johnson, October 24, 1924 - January 11, 2010

"Dear Joanie, I hate to tell you, but the news is not good. Uncle Walker's doctor had a technician read all of his test results, and he said that there is nothing they can do. They told the girls to take him home and make him comfortable, and to not wait too long to call hospice."

It's the message no one wants to receive. A prognosis delivered about someone they love and care for. "I regret to inform you..." "It doesn't look good." A compilation of words where just one word's meaning changes the entire definition of all the others: doesn't... does not. The assembly of just four small words so many have been told, whether at a doctor's office, in the emergency waiting room, or over the phone from a family member or friend. And this time it happened to be about my Uncle Walker, family from my mother's side.

At eighty-five years old, and three years younger than Momma, Uncle Walker had outlived her, several siblings, both parents... even his beloved wife, Emma. Eighty-five years is a pretty long life in this world. Or so it seems. That is, until you're informed that the end of this pretty long life is now inevitable. It is in times like this that eighty-five doesn't seem so very long... and for most of us, it just isn't long enough.

"It doesn't look good" creates so many different turns and twists of emotion in the hearts and minds of all who find themselves faced with the impending loss. And so my Uncle Walker, and the countless turns of events journeyed through life by this one man, created the need and desire for so many who knew and loved him to reach out and grab hold of Walker-Memories. The kind of memories that will last. So that when the time came for him to leave this world, when the feel of his touch, the sound of his voice, or the look in his eyes were no longer a possibility, times of recalling would be readied for remembering.

I had not seen nor spoken to my uncle in quite some time, but that didn't lessen my own desire to do the same... to recall... to remember him. And so I did just that.

Walker-Memories...

Like the time Walker was diagnosed with a brain tumor. "Nothing short of a miracle" would become his new personal slogan. He never hesitated to recall the journey for any who would listen...

The specialist had discovered a tumor on his brain. The good news was that it seemed to be located in a place that was operable. The bad news was that the surgeon, certain of the risks involved, delivered the following prognosis: one, death during surgery; or two, post-surgery, a complete vegetative state. If Walker survived the surgery, they would have to place him on morphine for pain that would most likely be at such an excruciating level, it would mean living out the rest of his life on painkillers.

However, after much prayer, Uncle Walker and Aunt Emma made the decision to move forward with the surgery, trusting God to do whatever He needed to do, knowing for certain that He would use whatever Walker's outcome would be for His glory. That is how my uncle and aunt lived their lives, and this diagnosis wasn't about to change things!

Oh, how I loved to watch Uncle Walker's face light up as he shared what took place in that operating room! The glow would completely envelop him. Well, let me tell you, it just had to be a human-scale replica of the Bible's account of the Mount of Transfiguration! And yes, just like Simon Peter, I would find myself wanting to stay right there in the moment with my uncle, listening as he described the setting while I retraced his steps in my mind. And who wouldn't, after witnessing such an illumination takeover of my uncle, caught in the reflection of his Savior as they spoke face to face there in the operating room! Intently I would listen as he recalled this miracle assignment...

During the surgery, as the doctors worked to remove the tumor, Jesus appeared and sat down at the foot of the operating table. "It's not your time yet. There is more work to be done. You will not experience any pain. You won't even need Tylenol." And though the words may not be verbatim, there is plenty enough memory for me!

The scripture verse that was stirred up in the heart of my uncle in that moment in the operating room is found in II Chronicles 7:14:

"If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Oh, what it must have been like there in the hallway of the surgery ward, as he was being transferred to the recovery room, when my uncle began to quote this scripture and shout praises to his Lord! Hearing how the nurse assigned to his care stood staring down at him in shock and disbelief, then began to rattle on...

"Mr. Johnson?! Mr. Johnson, can you hear me?! If you can hear me, wiggle your fingers... wiggle your toes... raise your left arm... raise your right leg... are you experiencing any pain... do you want morphine?!"

Can you imagine the thoughts that surely must have been racing through that poor nurse's mind?

"No, ma'am! My Lord told me I wouldn't feel any pain. Do you know Jesus? There's still work to be done! Amen?! A-----MEN!! If my people..." came Walker's response.

No pain equated to no morphine... and sure enough, just as Jesus promised, not even Tylenol!

So being the survivor of that brain tumor many years ago etched another memory mark of this man's life-lived journey and testimony. All through an event which profoundly affected the lives of those who were witnesses that day. Those who watched Walker leave the operating room quoting scripture, shouting glory to God, and holding a revival service flat on his back, right there in the middle of the hallway!

Rekindling began to fan the flames of longing souls with an old familiar song, "Jesus Loves Me!", inside the hearts of those who would listen as Walker shared the journey. But I believe my uncle would agree that one of the greatest testimonies, if not the greatest, came through the life-altering change in his surgeon that day.

This surgeon wasn't a Christian. He didn't believe there was such a thing as God. So I'm sure the conversations he overheard between Walker, family, and friends when they spoke of God, believing in and trusting Him, along with the many visits spent entirely in prayer, must have appeared to this doctor to be nothing short of a lot of wasted time and effort. That was, until after the surgery! Until he was summoned immediately to the recovery room. Until he himself witnessed the goings-on coming from Walker!

Once again, I can't help but chuckle as I recall this particular part of the story. To imagine what this doctor's face must have looked like, along with all the thoughts that surely raced through his mind... and so I gleefully relish, here in my own words, what might have been:

"WHAT the...? What is this?? This cannot be happening?! Why... I'M the doctor!! I'M the surgeon here, for heaven's sake!!! I'M the one with the medical training... the knowledge!! This was NOT in the equation of considered outcomes?! WHAT in the WORLD is going ON here?!"

I'll ask again... can you imagine what it must have been like? It makes you wanna smile, doesn't it? Added bonus: this doctor became a Christian because of Walker's testimony!!

All this, and we haven't really scratched the surface... times of reflection... recalling... remembering, as Walker shared this particular life moment with others throughout the years.

Just ask any one of us who knew and loved him. I'm sure you and I both would be utterly amazed at just how many lives have truly been blessed and changed!

Who are the ones crossing your mind right now? Those you just can't wait to share this story with? See what I mean?!

Even now, years after the account, as I recall this Walker-Memory, my spirit is dancing a hallelujah jig!!

Walker-Memories...

Family weddings... baby dedications... revivals... homecoming reunions... singing together... laughing together... even times when we cried together.

Walker-Memories... the year was 1990

"Your mom is real sick! I need you to come help me get her to the hospital!" came Dad's voice pleading, filled with concern and breaking with emotion on the other end of the phone line. Mom had shared with me the day before that she had been experiencing an odd taste in her mouth off and on and wasn't feeling good. Dad's voice, however, rang of something much more than the bug we all thought Mom had caught. Wasting no time, I drove from my home in town to Dad and Mom's farm on the outskirts of the county.

Once at the hospital, and a few tests later, the emergency room doctor made the decision to admit Mom overnight, as they could not figure out what it was that was making her so ill.

My incredible Aunt Zania came the minute we called. Once there, she insisted that both Dad and I go home and get some rest, and that she would stay to be there with her big sis.

A call from Aunt Zania brought us back to the hospital. We were needed there quickly, as they were unsure if Mom was going to survive much longer. Later that evening, the doctors and nurses had to bring Mom back from the brink of death. She had stopped breathing on three different occasions within a short period of time, resulting in code 99 calls throughout the early morning hours. Running test after test, they searched for answers as to what had caused this vibrant and alive 67-year-old woman to go from being considerably healthy to comatose, needing a ventilator, lying there in the intensive critical care unit.

In what seemed like so little time, the waiting room was filled with family and friends, including those who had traveled all the way from Kentucky. Uncle Walker and Aunt Emma didn't hesitate when they received the call from my Aunt Zania telling them what little we knew, and to please come right away.

After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor finally entered the waiting room to give us the latest update, which wasn't much, nor encouraging. He then informed us that only two would be allowed in to see Mom. Immediately my dad and I both looked at each other, exclaiming in unison, "You and Uncle Walker!" Of course Dad won out, sending Uncle Walker and me in to see her first.

Knowing my uncle and the incredible man of God that he was, I asked him to go up close to Momma's face, and I stood at the foot of her bed. I knew that if there was ever a time we needed someone who could get God's attention and have His ear, that person would be my uncle. It was the very same thought my dad said had crossed his mind there in the waiting room, as he ordered Walker and me to go first.

Now, I'm not trying to claim my uncle was perfect, but he sure was as close to perfection as one could get in my eyes! Sadly, I was under a wrong impression of just who God was, and so my belief of where I was in my relationship with God (or more importantly, where I was not) caused me to believe that we were going to need as close to perfect as one could get. And as far as I was concerned, that was Uncle Walker!

Walker always sought out the good qualities in a person. He was the one who always had a smile for everyone he came in contact with. The one who, being the minister he was, would end his sentences with an "Amen?! A------men!" His demeanor held all the characteristics of a laid-back, mild, meek-mannered gentleman. Quietly watching, intently listening... soft spoken.

Well, God was there, and He sure did hear my uncle pray that day. Of course, I had never heard my uncle pray without feeling the presence of God, and this particular day wouldn't be any different. I remember his prayer sounding familiar, like something or someone I had heard before. And at this very moment, as I pen this Walker-Memory, I am reminded that the familiarity is found in Jesus' prayer: "...we ask... but Your will be done." And it was.

The doctors told us it was encephalitis from a mosquito bite that had invaded Mom's body. Later, we would find out from Mom that she had been bitten by a mosquito the weekend before, while visiting friends. And though the outcome from this type of illness typically results in permanent brain damage at a minimum, and in most cases death, two weeks in ICCU, one week in step-down, followed by eight weeks and three days in rehabilitation later, my momma came home, 97 percent back to her beautiful self, and she was with us another ten wonderful years!

Oh, you can count on it... I'm gonna tag that one with an Uncle Walker "Amen?! A------men!!"

Walker-Memories... the hurdled altar

On occasion I had the privilege of hearing my uncle deliver a sermon. I'll never forget the time back in 1969, during our Rogers Homecoming Family Reunion, when he was about 44 years old. It was held that year at Uncle Walker's church, which also included his congregation, and so a church service was part of the events that day.

His message was about hearing God's call and being a faithful servant. He got to talking about who God was to him: his Lord and Savior, his God, his Jesus... when all of a sudden, his gaze shifted. Looking off to the side of the room, as if peering to see something far off in the distance, he leaned forward and squinted his eyes. Then, turning just his face toward the filled church pews, he looked out amongst the crowd of people.

Next came the raise of one eyebrow, steeped with a look of unwavering determination. "If my Lord wants me to jump over this altar, run down the aisle, kick up my leg, and shout..." he quipped, his voice filled with an emotion that seemed to hit the full-throttle button. And sure enough, it happened. With a jump and a leap, my uncle straddled that altar like an Olympian hurdler!! Once his feet hit the floor, he took off bolting down the center aisle and, just like a well-delivered karate move, kicked his leg up in the air!

Now keep in mind, I was all of ten years old, and just so happened to be sitting in a pew close to where he would conclude this particular race. And just so you can fully grasp what was taking place, allow me to share with you a little background...

Where we attended church in Ohio, you'd hear an "Amen" every once in a while, but that was about it. So talk about a kid jumping half out of her skin, jolted by the goings-on coming from her beloved uncle! It sent a wave of... well... I just can't help but be reminded of King Julien in "Madagascar" when he asked, "Does anyone else here have the heebie-jeebies?" Let me tell you, this ten-year-old girl sure did!

About the time he spun around on his heels and stopped there in the middle of the aisle was when I began to sort of regain my little-kid composure. And in a voice filled with unrestrained passion he shouted, "Well, AMEN, I'm a-gonna do it! Praise the Lord! Amen?! A------men!!", accompanied by a slight giggle and one of the biggest grins this side of Kentucky!

What an incredibly sweet smile he had... the one where his eyes disappeared, just like my momma's did! A Johnson family trait they both had been blessed with from our Indian heritage.

Walker-Memories... "Mommy, how do we know God is real?"

My daughter Maria recalls the time when the next-door neighbor boys informed her that her God didn't really exist. Confused, she came home and asked me, "Mommy, how do we really know God is real?"

The timing couldn't have been better, for the already scheduled Johnson family reunion was taking place that very weekend. I knew without a doubt that it would be a time when I could call on my Uncle Walker's assistance to help answer this difficult question. And answer it he sure did!

By the time Uncle Walker and Maria had finished their conversation, she was all smiles as she quipped, "Ha! I knew it! I knew my God was real!!", with a skip in her step as she ran off to play with the other children.

And once again, I thanked God for my uncle!

Walker-Memories... through my dad's eyes

With a quiver in his voice, my 93-and-a-half-year-old dad began to speak of a man he dearly loved and thought the world of...

"The world's gonna lose a great man! He is a true apostle of Jesus Christ. When it comes to Walker, Jesus is definitely gonna say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant!'" His mouth trembled as tears trickled down his cheeks. "He is a good man."

Later that afternoon, Dad made his way out of his room, wanting to share more about the man he had so admired all these years. So there in the kitchen we sat down, and with a smile he began to recall some of his own Walker-Memories...

Like the time he stole one of Aunt Emma's homemade strawberry shortcakes...

Stopping by Walker and Emma's place, Dad and Mom found that there wasn't anyone home. "You could smell the strawberries. It was still in the oven," he said, with a look on his face as if even then he could see it and smell it. Without leaving so much as a note, my dad took the ENTIRE shortcake! Just minutes later, Walker and Emma showed up, and upon realizing the shortcake was missing declared, "Why, Audra Rogers, only you would steal that shortcake!" Aunt Emma spouted, laughing, as they accused the guilty party!

Then there was the time Walker shared stories upon his return from serving in the military...

Walker was assigned to a mission involving the rescue of POWs in World War II. He and the others in his battalion had reached the camp, and while assisting the prisoners in crossing over the fence to escape, Walker saw one of the boys from Kentucky whose family was under the belief that he had already become a casualty of the war. Walker was able to return home and assure this man's family that he was indeed still alive!

Walker-Memories... there are so many, many memories!

Had I followed through with my first thought, asking family and friends for their Walker stories, you would be reading a novel instead of this newsletter. However, even with just a handful of family-shared Walker-Memories, some of the questions we should all be asking ourselves speak loud and clear...

As it applies to you and me... when in this life all is said and done...

• Who will others recall?
• Who will others remember?
• What sort of memories is my life creating?
• At the end of life's journey, will Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant"?
• Just what does it mean, "well done"? What is a "good and faithful servant"?

Done well... is this what it means to die empty? Not empty through sorrow of loss, but empty by giving this life all you had to give?

As quoted by Dr. Myles Munroe, "To die empty is to have reached the end of this life with nothing left of self, completing the purpose God intended to fulfill in and through only you."

For me, this sure brings a clearer understanding of Jesus' calling on my life, and His desire to welcome each of us home with that specific choice of words... "Well done, good and faithful servant!" And so I couldn't help but look up their definitions...

WELL DONE, GOOD and FAITHFUL SERVANT

• Well: to an extent approaching completeness; in a familiar manner.
• Done: to bring to an end... finished!
• Good: virtuous, right, commendable, kind, benevolent, competent, skillful, loyal, and close.
• Faithful: unswerving adherence to a person or thing, or to the oath or promise by which a tie was contracted; a firm resistance to any temptation to desert or betray.
• Servant: one that serves others.

By using the definitions, it reads something like this...

"Approaching completeness, you held a familiar manner that resembled Me. Now that your human existence has been brought to an end, you stand before Me. I have brought you home! It is finished!

You allowed Me in, depositing kindness to those around you, seen by all through your virtue as you stayed loyal to My voice, My directives. I did not, nor would I have, demanded your dedication or obedience. You invited Me into your life. You believed in Me. Once inside, you granted Me permission, which set My Lordship over you.

Even through trials and tribulations, when they may have caused you to stumble and at times even fall, you returned to your feet and stayed the course!"

DIE EMPTY

• Empty: marked by the absence of human life, activity.
• Die: to pass from physical life.

Doesn't this resonate with a newfound stirring, from deep within the reaches of our hearts and souls, to live life to its fullest?! Can the words "die empty" bring an explosion of determination and joy within us? Can we be witnesses of those who have run their race, fought a good fight, stayed the course, and then make the decision to mirror their enthusiasm, fulfilling our own life's purpose by dying empty? Will our lives truly lived challenge others around us to die empty?

My Uncle Walker... he did. And the effect is evident and alive in all who were firsthand witnesses of God's love poured out on mankind through him!

• He lived life out to the fullest!
• He shared God-given life lessons!
• He gave love freely!
• He was unwavering in showing mercy and forgiveness!
• He was exuberant about his Lord!
• He desired to help those who were lost to know what it felt like to be found and set free!
• He provided drink for the thirsty!
• He fed those around him who were hungry!
• He cared deeply for the orphaned and widowed!
• He was a passionate voice for God's truth!
• He knew that God's mercy set him free!

The result? A life legacy left behind of Walker-Memories...

And as those of us who loved him continue to grieve his passing from this life, we are yet filled with an undeniable explosion of joy in knowing this...

Walker Johnson, a true apostle for Jesus Christ, made it HOME! The very moment he was absent from this world, he was present with his Lord! His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, undoubtedly said, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

He is alive and well! He is joined there with his beautiful wife and sweetheart, Emma! His parents, Fred and Elizabeth Johnson, are there! His sisters and brothers, Mabel, Ethel, Roy, Rodney, Claud, and Galen, are there too! Nieces, nephews, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends... so many are gathered there with him! Those he had not known here on this earth, all who believed in and accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, are there!

God's angels are rejoicing! Heaven is celebrating!!

And though the world lost this great man, Heaven received one of its own... eternally home!

Father God,

Thank you for the gift of Walker Johnson. Thank You for the privilege of having seen, felt, and witnessed You in and throughout his life... Your son and my wonderful uncle!

Please thank him for me, and tell him...

I will remember! I will recall! I will be mindful! I am determined to live out my life in similar fashion! I will continue to give Christ Jesus Lordship of my life, and I am following His lead! I am determined to live this life full, with the intent to die empty!!

As I continue to cross certain paths along my own journey, where memories of you imprint recollections of times gone by, I will remember you! You have personally increased my great cloud of witnesses, and you cheer me on!

And on that day, when my purpose in this life has been fulfilled, I will die empty, having mirrored those like you, who in turn have mirrored our risen Savior!

On that day, I will see you again!!

Until then, my sweet, dearest uncle... WELCOME HOME!!!

Joanna Mikel writings, November 26, 2009