Posted on 07/12/2008 4:03:09 AM PDT by Bahbah
Fox News is announcing that Tony Snow has died.
Heartbreaking news.
Such very sad news.
One of the questions in my mind when someone I know dies is, did they know Jesus Christ as their Savior?
I can say that Tony showed that he did. Through his postings, his speaking and his actions.
We will all miss Tony, but for those of us that have the Faith in knowing Jesus, we will see him again.
God Bless his family and may the Good Lord give them His Strength to get through this time filled with such sorrow.
Tony Snow was a man after God’s own heart. He’s now continuing in that ongoing Great Adventure of serving our Lord. Only now, sadly we don’t get to see so much anymore. But Tony left us all so much.I came across an article Tony wrote about his cancer. I’ve included it below. I have included a portion of it here which I think highlights the servants attitude which Tony had in his approach to cancer and in his entire life. From the standpoint of someone who has the same disease as Tony and the same faith I can so clearly see what he is saying here:
—quote—
The moment you enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, things change. You discover that Christianity is not something doughy, passive, pious, and soft. Faith may be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But it also draws you into a world shorn of fearful caution. The life of belief teems with thrills, boldness, danger, shocks, reversals, triumphs, and epiphanies. Think of Paul, traipsing though the known world and contemplating trips to what must have seemed the antipodes (Spain), shaking the dust from his sandals, worrying not about the morrow, but only about the moment.
There’s nothing wilder than a life of humble virtue—for it is through selflessness and service that God wrings from our bodies and spirits the most we ever could give, the most we ever could offer, and the most we ever could do.
Finally, we can let love change everything. When Jesus was faced with the prospect of crucifixion, he grieved not for himself, but for us. He cried for Jerusalem before entering the holy city. From the Cross, he took on the cumulative burden of human sin and weakness, and begged for forgiveness on our behalf.
We get repeated chances to learn that life is not about us—that we acquire purpose and satisfaction by sharing in God’s love for others. Sickness gets us partway there. It reminds us of our limitations and dependence. But it also gives us a chance to serve the healthy. A minister friend of mine observes that people suffering grave afflictions often acquire the faith of two people, while loved ones accept the burden of two people’s worries and fears.
Learning How to Live.
-—end quote-—
Wow, all i can say is Amen. Keep up the good work Tony. And keep us in your prayers. I imagine you have a better perspective on things now than us.
God Bless Tony Snow and wife and kids....
The entire article from Tony is shown below and is worth reading by one and all...
Cancer’s Unexpected Blessings
When you enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, things change.
Christianity Today
By Tony Snow posted 7/20/2007 02:30PM
Those of us with potentially fatal diseases—and there are millions in America today—find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God’s will. Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence What It All Means, Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations.
The first is that we shouldn’t spend too much time trying to answer the why questions: Why me? Why must people suffer? Why can’t someone else get sick? We can’t answer such things, and the questions themselves often are designed more to express our anguish than to solicit an answer.
I don’t know why I have cancer, and I don’t much care. It is what it is—a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out.
But despite this—because of it—God offers the possibility of salvation and grace. We don’t know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment we meet our Creator face-to-face.
Second, we need to get past the anxiety. The mere thought of dying can send adrenaline flooding through your system. A dizzy, unfocused panic seizes you. Your heart thumps; your head swims. You think of nothingness and swoon. You fear partings; you worry about the impact on family and friends. You fidget and get nowhere.
To regain footing, remember that we were born not into death, but into life—and that the journey continues after we have finished our days on this earth. We accept this on faith, but that faith is nourished by a conviction that stirs even within many nonbelieving hearts—an intuition that the gift of life, once given, cannot be taken away. Those who have been stricken enjoy the special privilege of being able to fight with their might, main, and faith to live—fully, richly, exuberantly—no matter how their days may be numbered.
Third, we can open our eyes and hearts. God relishes surprise. We want lives of simple, predictable ease—smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see—but God likes to go off-road. He provokes us with twists and turns. He places us in predicaments that seem to defy our endurance and comprehension—and yet don’t. By his love and grace, we persevere. The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy we would not experience otherwise.
‘You Have Been Called’
Picture yourself in a hospital bed. The fog of anesthesia has begun to wear away. A doctor stands at your feet; a loved one holds your hand at the side. “It’s cancer,” the healer announces.
The natural reaction is to turn to God and ask him to serve as a cosmic Santa. “Dear God, make it all go away. Make everything simpler.” But another voice whispers: “You have been called.” Your quandary has drawn you closer to God, closer to those you love, closer to the issues that matter—and has dragged into insignificance the banal concerns that occupy our “normal time.”
There’s another kind of response, although usually short-lived—an inexplicable shudder of excitement, as if a clarifying moment of calamity has swept away everything trivial and tinny, and placed before us the challenge of important questions.
The moment you enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, things change. You discover that Christianity is not something doughy, passive, pious, and soft. Faith may be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But it also draws you into a world shorn of fearful caution. The life of belief teems with thrills, boldness, danger, shocks, reversals, triumphs, and epiphanies. Think of Paul, traipsing though the known world and contemplating trips to what must have seemed the antipodes (Spain), shaking the dust from his sandals, worrying not about the morrow, but only about the moment.
There’s nothing wilder than a life of humble virtue—for it is through selflessness and service that God wrings from our bodies and spirits the most we ever could give, the most we ever could offer, and the most we ever could do.
Finally, we can let love change everything. When Jesus was faced with the prospect of crucifixion, he grieved not for himself, but for us. He cried for Jerusalem before entering the holy city. From the Cross, he took on the cumulative burden of human sin and weakness, and begged for forgiveness on our behalf.
We get repeated chances to learn that life is not about us—that we acquire purpose and satisfaction by sharing in God’s love for others. Sickness gets us partway there. It reminds us of our limitations and dependence. But it also gives us a chance to serve the healthy. A minister friend of mine observes that people suffering grave afflictions often acquire the faith of two people, while loved ones accept the burden of two people’s worries and fears.
Learning How to Live
Most of us have watched friends as they drifted toward God’s arms not with resignation, but with peace and hope. In so doing, they have taught us not how to die, but how to live. They have emulated Christ by transmitting the power and authority of love.
I sat by my best friend’s bedside a few years ago as a wasting cancer took him away. He kept at his table a worn Bible and a 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. A shattering grief disabled his family, many of his old friends, and at least one priest. Here was a humble and very good guy, someone who apologized when he winced with pain because he thought it made his guest uncomfortable. He retained his equanimity and good humor literally until his last conscious moment. “I’m going to try to beat [this cancer],” he told me several months before he died. “But if I don’t, I’ll see you on the other side.”
His gift was to remind everyone around him that even though God doesn’t promise us tomorrow, he does promise us eternity—filled with life and love we cannot comprehend—and that one can in the throes of sickness point the rest of us toward timeless truths that will help us weather future storms.
Through such trials, God bids us to choose: Do we believe, or do we not? Will we be bold enough to love, daring enough to serve, humble enough to submit, and strong enough to acknowledge our limitations? Can we surrender our concern in things that don’t matter so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do?
When our faith flags, he throws reminders in our way. Think of the prayer warriors in our midst. They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it.
It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up—to speak of us!
This is love of a very special order. But so is the ability to sit back and appreciate the wonder of every created thing. The mere thought of death somehow makes every blessing vivid, every happiness more luminous and intense. We may not know how our contest with sickness will end, but we have felt the ineluctable touch of God.
What is man that Thou art mindful of him? We don’t know much, but we know this: No matter where we are, no matter what we do, no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects, each and every one of us, each and every day, lies in the same safe and impregnable place—in the hollow of God’s hand.
His last post was to you......
As I mentioned earlier, I have never cried so much for someone I never met. The loss of Tony is a void that can't be filled. We are so much the poorer today.
What a sad, sad loss. Tony Snow was a gentleman and a true role model for us all. Prayers for his family and friends, he is missed by many. He was a good man.
Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shaddows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant friend is he:
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know he watches me.
Refrain:
I sing because I'm happy,
I sing because I'm free,
for his eye is on the sparrow,
and I know he watches me.
His absolute goodness came through a TV screen.
Sympathies to his family.
Amen, Rus!
RIP, Tony. Condolences and prayers for his family. He will be sorely missed.
Beautiful! That song always makes me cry...and I was already there!
Thank you!
Thank you for posting that video of Tony receiving the 2008 William Buckley Award. Tony was such a great speaker and you can tell everything he says is from the heart. He will sorely be missed.
We share the grief of Jill and your sons.
Our hearts break for them and with them.
You will be sorely missed.
You were loved.
Greatly!
One of my favorites.
(((((((((all of us who loved him and weep))))))))
Wishing some measure of comfort and prayers for Jill and their children in knowing that so many loved him too.
Thank you for posting the article.
God bless Tony and his family. He will be sorely missed.
I know, we have to go say goodbye to my husband’s niece and her Marine Husband and 4 children as they are going to Japan for the next three years. Makes you realize how fleeting life is.
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May The Lord bless you and keep you; May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. |
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Catholic Prayer Ping Please address all prayers to Tony Snow; If you would like to be added to the Catholic Prayer Ping List, please FReepmail me.
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I have already sent them an email. I don't imagine it will do any good but you never know--at least it made me feel better. We shouldn't be surprised that Jennifer Loven contributed to that obit. Email:info@ap.org The Associated Press Headquarters 450 W. 33rd St. New York, NY 10001 Main Number 1-212-621-1500
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