Tip of My Iceberg

I’ve never met the man, but I’ve come to deeply respect who he is and how he is choosing to live his life–and finish his life.

Ben Sasse was a senator from Nebraska and then went on to become the president of the University of Florida. He was well-respected in both fields; he actually won all 93 counties in Nebraska in his run for the Senate.

On December 23, 2025, he announced he had stage IV pancreatic cancer that had spread to other organs in his body. He was initially given three to four months to live because of the numerous tumors in his body.

He is going to die. As we all will. He has the understanding, however, that his end will be soon. And he’s choosing to talk about it with courage and faith.

He is a man who loves Jesus, and his faith has informed him how he will finish his life.

I’ve listened to several podcasts where interviewers ask questions about how he thinks about his remaining time and what’s important to him and his family. His responses are humble; he acknowledges his death sentence, but he reminds everyone that we all have a death sentence. None of us can avoid it.

As a Christian, he shares how he can face death knowing where he is going, that heaven for him is guaranteed, and that the suffering and pain he experiences here isn’t keeping him from living still. He explains that death and dying aren’t the same; dying is still a chance to live fully. Even acknowledging death, he chooses to still fight for life. He is married with three children: two adults and one son still in his teens. Ben is cherishing time with his family; he’s not going down without a fight.

We’ve all lost people whom we love and cherish; the challenges of life remind us of our finitude, our frailty, our humanity. For many, death comes unexpectedly; we have no control over the things that happen in our lives that can cause our demise.

Unless we choose to live in a plastic bubble, never venturing from home. But that isn’t living.

One of the things that impressed me about Ben Sasse was his emphasis on choosing to serve others, not trying to build up your own resume, not trying to develop an image that means more than the substance of one’s character. Often, to grow our character, we need to listen to those older and wiser, who have had life experience that we have not yet had.

Culturally, we don’t think that way. We don’t think intergenerationally; most of the influence we receive is from social media or those who think and act like we do. It takes courage to ask the questions of others that may change the way we think or process.

Ben’s story won’t end with his death. He has an eternity to live, which isn’t optimism or positivity, but an assurance that he has been given salvation by Jesus. A promised future, a guarantee of eternity without cancer and pain, and the Word of God that he will be with his family one day, who also know Jesus.

I want to live without wasting my life on things that don’t matter, but I want to focus on what is important: people, God, His Word.

Ben Sasse didn’t choose to have an end date this soon. But once he understood his reality, he has made the best of it, not giving up on life, but living life on his terms for God’s glory. It gives him the chance to live for what’s good, true, and beautiful.

How would you choose to live if you knew your time was limited?