As many of you know, my eldest daughter works for Apple. This afternoon she texted me four words that stopped me in my tracks...
"Steve jobs is dead"
I saw that she had texted me and when I read those words, my heart stopped. There are not many celebrities that I would mourn; but Steve Jobs is definitely one. Even until this moment, when I read those four words, I hang on the word, "dead".
It seems so unlikely that Steve Jobs could be dead. He was so much larger than life. how could someomne of his incredible inteilect succomb to the same maladies that us mere mortals do?
As I type that, it seems at the same time, ridiculous, and profound. I mean, how could someone's contribution to society be an indicator of their immortality? If anyone's could; it'd be Steve Jobs'.
As profoundly impacted as I am about his death at this time, I still feel the need to shout to the world how appreciative I am of the work he did. The man very literally changed the world for the better.
A few years ago I was in Cupertino for business. I was riding in the car with a good friend, Lino Tadros. As we drove past the Apple campus, we began to discuss the impact that Steve Jobs has had on the world. The next day I was scheduled to fly back to Colorado. When Lino picked me up to take me to the airport, he handed me a wrapped package and said,
"Hey Boss. I knew you would appreciate this token of my appreciation for all of your hard work."
In the box was a new iPod; my first iPod. He said that after our conversation about Steve Jobs and Apple, he thought that an iPod would be an appropriate gift (though I'm certain I didn't deserve a gift).
I still carry that same 30GB iPod Video with me, though there have been many iterations since that time. As I type this, I am listening to James Taylor's "Carolina in My Mind" on it.
Though that story doesn't directly correlate to the passing of Steve Jobs... to me it does. Part of our conversation that day was about how Steve Jobs had transformed the world for the better; something we were trying to do in our own way.
Though I never met Steve Jobs, I feel like he contributed significantly to my life. His passing hit me harder than I imagined it would.
My prayer is:
"YHWH; welcome Mr. Jobs into the promised land. I pray that when I get to Heaven myself, Steve Jobs is in charge of the design and development of the devices I will use for eternity. He is certainly up to the task. May his rewards in Heaven be in proportion to the good he did on Earth."