Loss
Yesterday morning, I sat in the office of Edward Jones and talked to my advisor about retirement plans. We had some money we wanted to see grow over the next twenty years or so until retirement. I still think I'm too young to think about that...but when your kid goes off to college, you begin to believe maybe you're not as young as you think you are! So I signed paperwork and brought paperwork home for Cathy to sign.
The advisor asked if I had a will, and I said no. We have talked a lot about it. Every time I go overseas, we talk about it. But we haven't done anything about it. We think it's a good idea, but, you know, that seems so far off.
In the afternoon, I went to visit a church member who is slowly dying. He has been ill for some time, and hospice believes it won't be long now. He's asleep most of the time, so I sat and talked with his wife of 64 years. What a blessing they have been to each other and to so many. It hurts my heart to see him suffering, but I'm thankful he's not in pain.
And then, just after dinner last night, Cathy asked me to update her phone. I noticed she had missed a call, so I asked her if she wanted to return that before I erased her phone. She did, and from the other room I heard her gasp. A friend of ours had died. A former parishioner. Someone just around our age. Someone whose smile would brighten up a room and had always been very kind to us. Her daughters had been in our youth group and had babysat Rachel and Christopher when they were much younger. In a moment, from what I can piece together, she was just gone. No warning. No time to make plans. No time to say goodbye.
All of that reminds me that, as James tells us, life is just a morning mist. It comes and goes so quickly. He writes those words, interestingly enough, in the midst of a discussion (at the beginning of the chapter) about arguments and quarrels. Why do you fight about things, especially with brothers and sisters in Christ? James says it's because we want things but we can't have them so we get angry. We want our way and we can't get it so we quarrel. Such an attitude, James says, comes from friendship with the world rather than being really connected with God. If we were truly connected with God, he believes, we wouldn't be so arrogant. We wouldn't assume that we are in control. Because we're not. James puts it this way: "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (4:14). Stop your arrogance, James says, and trust in God. Because this life is just a mist. And the things we think are so important and so worth getting upset over just really aren't.
What is important it this: love well, love long, hug your kids and above all else, trust in Jesus. He will walk with you, even in the darkest valley. He will see you through.
"Do you believe this?" Jesus asked Martha as she stood by the grave of her brother (John 11:25).
"Do you believe this?" Jesus asks us as well.
The advisor asked if I had a will, and I said no. We have talked a lot about it. Every time I go overseas, we talk about it. But we haven't done anything about it. We think it's a good idea, but, you know, that seems so far off.
In the afternoon, I went to visit a church member who is slowly dying. He has been ill for some time, and hospice believes it won't be long now. He's asleep most of the time, so I sat and talked with his wife of 64 years. What a blessing they have been to each other and to so many. It hurts my heart to see him suffering, but I'm thankful he's not in pain.
And then, just after dinner last night, Cathy asked me to update her phone. I noticed she had missed a call, so I asked her if she wanted to return that before I erased her phone. She did, and from the other room I heard her gasp. A friend of ours had died. A former parishioner. Someone just around our age. Someone whose smile would brighten up a room and had always been very kind to us. Her daughters had been in our youth group and had babysat Rachel and Christopher when they were much younger. In a moment, from what I can piece together, she was just gone. No warning. No time to make plans. No time to say goodbye.
All of that reminds me that, as James tells us, life is just a morning mist. It comes and goes so quickly. He writes those words, interestingly enough, in the midst of a discussion (at the beginning of the chapter) about arguments and quarrels. Why do you fight about things, especially with brothers and sisters in Christ? James says it's because we want things but we can't have them so we get angry. We want our way and we can't get it so we quarrel. Such an attitude, James says, comes from friendship with the world rather than being really connected with God. If we were truly connected with God, he believes, we wouldn't be so arrogant. We wouldn't assume that we are in control. Because we're not. James puts it this way: "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (4:14). Stop your arrogance, James says, and trust in God. Because this life is just a mist. And the things we think are so important and so worth getting upset over just really aren't.
What is important it this: love well, love long, hug your kids and above all else, trust in Jesus. He will walk with you, even in the darkest valley. He will see you through.
"Do you believe this?" Jesus asked Martha as she stood by the grave of her brother (John 11:25).
"Do you believe this?" Jesus asks us as well.
Well, do you?
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