"During the previous days, it was apparent that he was navigating the thin and sacred space between earth and Heaven," according to his family. "We overheard him speaking to people we can only presume were welcoming him into paradise. There may have even been a time or two when he accessed his Pentecostal roots and spoke in tongues as well.

"Among his final words were, 'Let's go.' And his joy: My, oh my, the man remained joyful right up to his blessed end, smiling frequently. In such moments it's best for all mortal flesh to keep silence. But if you have to say something, say this: 'Holy, Holy, Holy.'"

Peterson was placed under hospice care in mid-October "when he took a sudden and dramatic turn in his health caused by an infection," according to an email from his son Eric Peterson. The elder Peterson already had been dealing with dementia and congestive heart failure at the time.

Peterson is perhaps best known for his paraphrase of the Bible called The Message, which is written like a storybook.

He also wrote books, including A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (1980); Run With the Horses: The Quest for Life at its Best (InterVarsity Press, November 1983); Traveling Light: Modern Meditations on St. Paul's Letter of Freedom (Helmers & Howard Publishing, 1988); Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination (HarperCollins Publishers, 1988); and Where Your Treasure Is: Psalms that Summon You from Self to Community (Wm. B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1993), among others...

Daniel Groethe, a Peterson family friend, shared his interactions with Peterson ahead of Peterson's 85th birthday:

This is a guy who lives in his childhood home. They have one car, a Honda. There is not an ostentatious bone in their bodies. These are people who have turned down opportunity after opportunity in order to preserve a life of simplicity and quiet faithfulness. A long obedience in the same direction. I have long said that it only took Eugene Peterson 65 years to become an overnight success, and the success came when he had gotten over his need to be successful. God must have known he could trust this old couple with that kind of money, that kind of acclaim.

What I discovered is that Eugene and Jan have been doing this their whole lives, been giving themselves away, their strength away, their money away. I basically made him admit that he and Jan have paid for scores of his students to pursue master's or doctoral degrees. Full scholarships out of their own pockets.

"We determined that that's why God gave us this money. That's what it's for," he said. They have given to local and global mission work. As the psalmist said, "They have freely scattered abroad their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor" (Ps. 112:9)... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here.

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