Wholeheartedly Willing and Ready

"When I am near to die, my last thought will be for him…I am so grateful. I was lucky to live a full life. Without him, nothing of it would have happened." This is what Peter Heisig says about the man who saved his life.

During the Second World War, Peter Heisig was the first lieutenant of the German submarine U-877. On Dec. 27, 1944, U-877 was attacked by the Canadian warship HCMS St. Thomas. Fatally disabled, the U-boat bobbed to the surface. Its crew, all of whom survived the initial assault, prepared for the enemy vessel’s kill shot. It never came. As her crew loaded the guns, the St. Thomas' first lieutenant, Stanislas Dery, uttered the words, “Ne tirez pas!” – Don’t shoot. Instead of destroying the U-Boat and everyone on board, the St. Thomas approached, rescuing them instead.

Thus began a lifelong friendship between Dery and Heisig. In the years following the war they regularly crossed the Atlantic to visit each other. Every year for the rest of his life Heisig contacted Dery to thank him.

The first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism ends with this statement:
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready to live for him.
What does it look like to be wholeheartedly willing and ready to live for someone? If I’m honest I admit that I’m seldom wholehearted about anything. My attention and affections are almost always divided. At work my attention is pulled from all but the most absorbing tasks by something as frivolous as Facebook or a movie review. At home the most valuable moments with my wife and children are diluted with thoughts of escape to a hobby or, of all things, work. When I get a moment to myself do I dive into the book I’ve been saving or the workout I’ve put off for two days? No. I read email. Sometimes it feels as though I’d always rather be doing something else. What would life look like if I was wholeheartedly committed? What would motivate me to live wholeheartedly?

This: to be faced with my imminent death, and then to be brought back from the brink. This would motivate me to live every remaining day wholeheartedly. And it would make me willing and ready to live wholeheartedly for the one who’d brought me back. This, claims the Catechism, is what Jesus does for every one of us. Snatches us from the brink of misery and death. Gives us the chance at new life. What do we do with this new life? We live for him. Not resignedly or dutifully. Wholeheartedly.