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Deacon Bob
There are many things about your life which I do not know. And,
there are many things about me of which you do not know. But
one thing I do know: you and I are living in an interim space. We
are between what has happened in our lives and what will
happen. We know a great deal about the former and very little
about the latter. What has been - is past, and we are moving
away from it good or bad and going on to what is yet to be –
good or bad. In lots of ways - I am glad we do not know the
future, but in many ways, we are like the disciples – Jesus, we
plead, give us a peak of what will happen. And we’ll be okay.
How we make this journey forward is very important, the
attitudes with which we travel, the guiding stars we follow are
important. – for us that star leads us or should lead us to Jesus. Life, on this side of heaven, is uncertain for all of us – it
can change in an instant. We are really not in control of anything.
Although, I suspect we would all like to think we are.
Last summer, I was in Vermont on vacation and stopped in a
state police barracks in Williston, Vermont just south of
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Deacon Bob
Burlington – Troop A Headquarters. In another life, for a short
time, I was a Trooper in that same station. I stopped there to
check off a notch on my bucket list, to reconnect to a life that
could have been – but wasn’t – for a myriad of reasons. I met
this young Trooper, Dan Marcellus – who was more than happy to
show me around and brag about how the state police changed
from 1977 when I was there to the modern law enforcement
agency it is today.
For over an hour I got to know Dan and he - me a little bit. Dan,
34 years old, and a senior state trooper for the last 13 years told
me he and his wife were expecting their first child – how exiting
and life affirming. I thought to myself – he is going on life and the
world and his career were unfolding in front of him I was envious
in a way. I thought: good for him. I wished him well – told him to
“be safe out there” and we parted ways, I checked off a box on
my bucket list and moved on.
In late October I learned that Dan was diagnosed with inoperable
brain cancer. His colleges and he noticed that he was becoming
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Deacon Bob
forgetful. In the space of three months he went from healthy to
facing life altering decisions that no young person should face. He
is on our sick list.
When I was with him taking our selfies the cancer was already
lurking in his brain, waiting, growing., but it did not yet reach
that point where it interfered with his life or showed itself. Please
pray for him. I mention this because Jesus addresses this very
issue; we know not how or when the son of man will come for us.
We all will come to an end of this life, but we know not how or
when; we exercise, take herbs and supplements, eat organic to
stave off the end. Humanity has been doing this forever.
Benjamin Franklin – the person I would most like to meet
lamented his elder years. He wished for his youth back. Me too.
I often teach Shakespeare in my college classes. I always teach
Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18.”
It is a love poem (between two lovers) that talks about aging and
how we all change. It begins: “Shall I compare thee to a
summer's day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate: /
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Deacon Bob
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May. This indicates
that the lovers will age and die. They move from the glorious
summer to an uncertain – May: a May that rocks - youth.
However, the writer, says at the end of the sonnet. “So long as
men can breathe or eyes can see, / so long lives this (the poem
itself), [ it] this gives life to thee.” It is in the re-reading of the
sonnet that life is acknowledged in words because the writer, too
knew of a death that will come in the future and clam both.
We are on our way to somewhere. It is an impression we cannot
escape. The awareness comes up from deep within us; things will
not always be as they are now. Regular things: The Gas tax, the
new president elect; everything changes. As much as we hunger
for the past, we are being pulled and dragged forward into our
future.
However, all not gloom and doom: Jesus speaks of it in Matthew,
he says, "The end is not yet." There is still a future, and things
are still going to be happening, …. Watch therefore ... and be
ready." Jesus seems to be saying that, whatever else we may do
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Deacon Bob
today, the most important thing is to get ready for tomorrow,
that, important as today is, tomorrow will be infinitely more so,
and he does not necessarily mean the life of life; he implies,
change.
To all of us who walk with Christ, trials will still surely come, but
we can go through almost anything if we can be sure of
something beyond – just over the ridge.
There may be a
personal Calvary, but it is endurable if we can be sure of the
Easter promise, which follows. God will not be defeated; he will
not abandon us – he has said as much over and over.
We can trust him to know the way home. Our end is not yet;
there is still a tomorrow and probably a tomorrow after that;
Faith is knowing he is with us until the end of all time – whenever
and however that may come.