My grandfather died a few years ago.
His passing was not unexpected, and not dramatic. Gradually worsening circulatory issues had plagued him for years. He’d had a Do Not Resuscitate order for a while, and while he was walking under his own power the month before, he’d been quietly making sure everything was in order for what felt like a long time.
There are two things I want to tell you about him tonight, about what kind of person he was.
Here’s one. My father was, as far as we can tell, the last person to have a conversation with my grandfather. Grandpa had been in bed, receiving gentle assistance breathing and turning himself for at least a couple of days, when my dad walked in to sit with him a while. The first thing Grandpa said when dad entered was “How can I help you?”
When my father related this to the rest of the family, none of us were at all surprised. We had all heard those words countless times from him. The first thing he would do when meeting someone new was to see how he could make things better, and the most important question he would have after seeing an old acquaintance was to find out if they could use a hand.
Here’s the other. My grandfather was a devout Christian, and sincerely believed in the rapture. There would come a day when the son of God would come again, and the work of the world would be ended. We talked about the bible a lot- not so much that I wouldn’t love to talk with him again, on that or any subject- and towards the end of his life the rapture came up more often. Even when I was a child though, I always got the impression that he believed it would come in his lifetime. This wasn’t something he thought might happen eventually, or a metaphor, but something he expected to see with his own eyes.
I wondered what that would be like, each year it didn’t happen being some small evidence that it wouldn’t happen, but not enough to shake ones faith that it would. Then again, I did sometimes sit with him and watch the news, and listened as he pointed out the mounting evidence that the end of the world was growing sooner, not less likely. Maybe, at the end, he thought he would see it if he just held on for another day.
Another hour.
Five more minutes?
Since we’re all standing here, I guess you know it didn’t come in time.
So uh, I can’t help but draw a connection here. I’m increasingly sure Artificial Intelligence is going to wind up eating the world at some point, that the child of mankind is going to be some strange arrangement of math and electrons which will remake the world into something I might not recognize. I don’t watch the news, but recent announcements and research papers make me think the end of the world is growing sooner, not less likely. I do expect to see this in my lifetime.
Here’s something I learned from Grandpa. This is how to wait for the end of the world; you look people in the eye, and you ask
“How can I help?”
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