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Real Answers™
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Copyright: © 2008 Kendall Wingrove
650 words

TONY SNOW:  "WHILE GOD DOESN'T PROMISE TOMORROW, HE DOES PROMISE ETERNITY"

By: Kendall Wingrove

Tony Snow spent a lifetime putting words together into beautiful sentences.  Whether his comments were for a newspaper column or a television show, Snow’s eloquent insights explained events unfolding in the complex world around us.  

The acclaimed journalist and presidential press secretary recently died at only 53 after a long and heroic bout with cancer.  Now his words are helping people confront their own mortality and re-evaluate their priorities. 

Snow left many blueprints on how to wisely use our finite time on Earth.  One of the best is an acclaimed commencement speech that he gave at the Catholic University of America in 2007. 

 “Never forget at this moment, and every moment forward, you have a precious blessing," Snow told the graduating seniors.  "No matter how lousy things may seem, you’ve got the breath of life.  And while God doesn’t promise tomorrow, he does promise eternity."

That eternal perspective was central to Snow’s philosophy.  He understood the biblical warning to “not lay up treasures on earth, where moth and rust can destroy,” but to focus instead on the enduring riches of heaven.   
 
The zest that Snow brought to each day left a lasting impression on New York Times columnist William Kristol.  Watching him, Kristol came to wonder if Snow’s faith-based optimism was superior to worldly pessimism and sophisticated fatalism.

“His deep Christian faith combined with his natural exuberance to give him an upbeat world view,” Kristol wrote. “Tony thought he should be grateful for what life has given us, not bitter or anxious about what it hasn’t.”

Despite recurring cancer, Snow followed the Apostle Paul's advice from Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about anything."  Armed with an indefatigable spirit and a winning smile even while in pain, Snow earned a reputation as the “happy warrior.”  Rather than being overwhelmed by the great mysteries of our existence, Snow remained joyful while wrestling with them.  He urged people not to shrink from pondering God's role in the universe. 
 
"It's trendy to reject religious reflection as a grave offense against decency," Snow said.  "That's not only cowardly, that's false. Faith and reason are knitted together in the human soul.  So don't leave home without either one."
 
Snow came to realize that life can be "solitary, nasty, brutish and short."  But he also believed that most people, with the faith of a child, grasp that the universe unfolds with a discernable order.

“Moral laws, far from being convenient social conventions, are firm and unalterable,” Snow said.  “Not only do they predate us, they also will survive us…the point is you can’t escape the question of God and you can’t escape the question of commitments.”

When it came to commitments, Snow was a devoted husband and father and a passionate patriot who cherished the freedoms of America.  The nation’s leaders gathered in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to bid farewell to him.

The Very Rev. David M. O’Connell told the mourners that the measure of Snow’s life could be found in his love for God and family and neighbor and country.

“Tony Snow did not need a long life for us to measure,” O’Connell said.  “It was, rather, we who needed his life to be longer.”

In a heartfelt eulogy, President Bush said it was impossible to fully comprehend why such a good and vital man had been taken so soon. 

“Tony Snow has left the City of Washington for the City of God,” said the president.  “May he find eternal rest in the arms of his Savior.  And may the Author of all creation watch over his family and all those who loved him, admired him and will always cherish his memory.”

That memory should inspire others to follow a similar path.  Even though Snow was denied many tomorrows, he had great peace about securing eternity.   His dedication to a lasting truth is a legacy to treasure.

Kendall Wingrove is a free-lance writer from East Lansing, Michigan.

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com

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