I Did It to Myself
True Confessions of an Overachiever
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My Sudden-Death Experience
It was December 31, 2015, Second Ebenezer Church held our annual New Year’s Eve service, traditionally called Watch Night Service in African American churches across the country. Our service, like many others, is a time of preaching, prayer and song that begins late in the evening and ends soon after midnight, as a brand new year is ushered in. Of course the church was packed – we had about 3,000 people there. As bishop and pastor of the church, I led the service. By 11:30 p.m., I was through preaching and came down from the stage to the main floor.
I had decided to do something different at 12 o’clock. I was going to distribute Holy Communion at midnight, which was something different for our church on New Year’s Eve. Speaking from the main floor, I gave everyone instructions as to how I wanted things done. I let everyone know that we would take an offering first. I told them to come to the front, give their offering, then receive their packaged, personal-size communion sacraments and return to their seats. We would all partake of the wine (actually a swallow of grape juice in a plastic, miniature cup) and the bread wafer at the same time, following my instructions from the pulpit. I stood there essentially winding down, not really exerting myself at all. All was well. My wife was standing with me. I had other assistants standing nearby, with officers holding offering buckets at each side of the main floor.
All of a sudden, it was just as if a black curtain was coming down in front of me. I knew I was going to pass out. It was like, boom! – darkness descending on me very fast. I reached for my wife and I grabbed her. And that was the last thing I remembered.
I was out and my heart stopped – no pulse – for about three minutes.
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About the Book
This book is the product of a “life to death” and “back to life” experience that changed my perspective on the nature of work, career commitment, personal goals, and ultimately, the meaning of success. Health challenge recovery compelled me to evaluate life forever from a fresh perspective. Many books are written to convince us to do more. We are often told to be successful we must be incessantly engaged — squeezing in other essentials, if we can. It is the frenetic, hyperactive lifestyle to which we have been coerced. We are pressured to take on more than we can, accelerate everything, and maximize all we do to the hilt. We feel we must be all things to all people, never realizing “NO” to be a complete sentence.
I know what it means to take on the world at once. Blessed with many gifts, talents and skills, I thought I was able to do it all. The beauty of life is really a matter of integrating all of its salient components into a well-coordinated fabric. The proper fusion of life amalgamation enhances it value and makes life captivating and attractive.
Creating synergies in the tapestry of life is the equipoise of life fulfillment. I was “made to lie down” and compelled to live my life differently. I share here the life changing truths that I’ve learned and continue to learn. I am most eager to reach those who thrive on busyness and big goals as I have. Integrating life and work equitably is the message. I want to teach people who anxiously crave success a more excellent way to thrive and stay alive.
About the Author
Edgar L. Vann grew up as a prodigy: a gifted child who was always expected to finish first – and usually did. He became the pastor of a divided Detroit congregation at age 21, beginning four decades of nonstop church growth, wide-ranging comprehensive ministry and civic involvement, with little room built in for rest, relaxation and reflection. That breakneck schedule contributed to a New Year’s Eve Service health emergency: “sudden cardiac death,” followed by a back-to-life recovery on the floor of his church. Edgar Vann’s experience was a wake-up call that helped produce this practical guide to breaking out of the prison of overwork and needless stress. He uses statistical data, entertaining anecdotes and Biblical scripture to convincingly demonstrate that being a do-it-all “work martyr” is a dead end. He shows how the path to a richer, more rewarding life starts with a better work-life integration and a focus on improved health. edgarlvann.com