I was sitting with him today. We were trying to solve a rather complicated opportunity. When I wasn’t really expecting it, he said, “My wife died of cancer in April.” The tenor of the discussion had now changed. His grief was etched upon his face. The third participant in the meeting then chimed in, “My daughter died of cancer too.” I had no idea that I would be sitting this day with a widower and a heartbroken mother. The mother, tears welling up in her eyes, said, “My daughter did so much for others; her children miss her so. I am not sure why God took her in that way.”
Years ago, I sat with a family whose father had died quite suddenly at 54 years of age. There was shock, grief and anger. “Why would God do such a thing?” One of the daughters was very pregnant. She felt like her newborn was being cheated out of knowing her grandfather. I asked her how far along she was in her pregnancy. She was a month away from her due date.
Our conversation going forward was something like this: “Would it bother you if you gave birth two weeks early?” I asked. “Not if the baby was healthy. In fact, it would be a relief.” I paused, “Do you suppose your baby would feel cheated?” “Cheated? What do you mean?” “I mean the baby should expect 9 months in the womb. If it only got 8 ½, don’t you think that would be a raw deal?” “Really, I don’t think the baby would care as long as I held it and it got to eat,” she replied.
“I think you are right. I also think that the only view of life that we can see is the view that we are now enjoying.”
“What does that mean?” the young woman asked.
“We can only see from this side of eternity. We can only see with the faint vision of humans. From our perspective, your father was cheated. Certainly, your family has been cheated out of the future joy and memories that would have been shared with your father. But I am thinking that your father is more like that baby born two weeks early. The baby does not feel cheated. The baby now has the joy of being held tight in the arms of his mother, and nestling in close to her breast. Your father left this world too soon, at least from our perspective, but he is safe in the arms of God, nestling at the breast of the one who gave him life.”
Paul said, “Now we see in a mirror dimly.” And the author of James wrote, “We are a mist which appears for a brief moment and then is gone.” If we live 50 years or 80 years or 100 years, still our life is but a brief moment in God’s eternity. Someday we too will cross over. In the blinking of an eye we will leave this world and we will be reborn. We won’t feel cheated as we find ourselves basking in the glory of God, and we certainly would not return to this world.
That is our faith! That is our hope. Death will not have the last word — the last is resurrection.
Keep smiling and I will see you on Sunday!
Love,
Pastor Jim
