布朗妮．維爾（Bronnie Ware）是從事安寧療護的護理員，她在陪伴臨終病人時發現了一點，他們在談到自己的遺憾時，都沒有提及人們終其一生所追逐的事物。她特意詢問這些臨終病人說：「如果人生可以重來，你會有什麼不同的選擇嗎？」他們的回覆大多圍繞著幾個主題，於是她整理出臨終者最常感到遺憾的五件事：(1)真希望我有勇氣活出真正屬於自己的人生；(2)真希望我沒有花那麼多時間在工作上；(3)真希望我有勇氣表達自己的感受；(4)真希望我有跟朋友保持聯絡；(5)真希望我能讓自己過得開心一點。

布朗妮列舉的這五大憾事，讓我聯想到在路加福音12章耶穌所講的比喻。有個財主打算建造更大的倉房以貯藏他豐盛的糧食。之後他告訴自己，可以開始享受退休生活，悠閒地度日，直到離世（18-19節）。但此時上帝卻嚴厲地告訴他，要取走他的性命，並指出他是「無知的人」。接著，上帝問了一個發人深省的問題：「你所預備的要歸誰呢？」（20節）

一個人在離世時是否真的能毫無遺憾呢？雖然我們沒有明確的答案，但我們可以確定聖經已清楚說明：為自己積攢財寶終歸會一無所有，真正的富足是將生命投資於上帝的國度。

There was no mention made of the stuff we often spend our lives chasing. That’s what palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware discovered as she sat with the dying. She intentionally questioned them: “Would you do anything differently if you could do it again?” Common themes surfaced, and she compiled a list of the top five regrets of the dying: (1) I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself. (2) I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. (3) I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. (4) I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. And (5) I wish I’d let myself be happier.    

Ware’s list brings to mind the parable Jesus tells in Luke 12. A rich man decides to build bigger barns to store his great harvest, after which he tells himself he’ll retire in style, sit back and relax, and live until he dies (vv. 18-19). But in that moment, God demands his life with a rather harsh address: “You fool!”—followed by a haunting question: in essence, “And what will become of all your stuff?” (v. 20).

Is it possible to die with zero regrets? That’s hard to know for certain. But what we do know is clearly expressed in Scripture—storing up stuff for ourselves is a dead end. True riches come from a life invested in God.