She is not saying she has a ticket, of course. Humble people never make such claims. But she may know how you could acquire yours.

   She offered her four-word counsel back at her 103rd birthday (picture). "What is your best advice to your great-grandkids?" I asked. "Help the other guy," she said. 

   She has done that in her way all her life. The flood of incredibly kind comments that have poured in following news of her hospice admission suggest her success. 

   Crucial is the fact that she did not help others to impress God. If we serve others just to serve ourselves we void our pass.

   Mom's view comes, of course, from history's most famous parable of mercy. Jesus described the Good Samaritan to a lawyer who asked him how to get into heaven. 

   We seek to acquire a wide range of "tickets" across our lives. My cousin, Dr. Terry Chapman, for example, is the first person in our family to be awarded a PhD. 

   After graduating law school someone told me, "Now you've got your ticket." After I passed the bar another person said the same. When I graduated Divinity School & was ordained I acquired yet another ticket.

   Tickets to what? No achievement matters unless you are "helping the other guy."

   My mother, like all good caregivers, knew that compassion comes from understanding the suffering of others. That understanding helped her help others.

   All tickets to heaven are free. But none is cheap. Very soon mom will be cashing in hers. 

-Erie Chapman 

Photo by Erie – "Mom at 103" (2015)