It’s Thursday about three in the afternoon and a typical hot, humid summer day in the south. Some things never really change while other things, particularly those totally unexpected leave us exhausted and re-examining our life and wondering why. I am very grateful for many things in my life, one is the Community of Faith. Today’s post concerns a member of that community. He is a brother in the faith and a member of the church I attend. Today’s post will be difficult for me because it involves a person I don’t know all that well but have a tremendous respect for. There are those people you meet in life that while you are not friends in the usual way, they are someone you would like to get to know better. Such is the case where this gentleman is concerned. In a series that shares the grief of the sudden death of a loved one, the writer puts on paper an agonizing and truly remarkable picture of grief that questions our faith but at the same time in a moment of shared frustration, gives us the reason for and the power of faith. There is also the opportunity to share the “Rest Of The Story”  I Consider these posts to be a remarkable journey through one man’s grief because the questions he asks are not from despair, but rather a believers quest for peace. I would not presume to or be able to adequately address this mans grief. I will in a feeble attempt turn to this scripture. Latter in this post I will return to it.

Philippians 3: 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

When time allows go to this link. (paranormalchrist.com) There will be five posts listed in the box to your right. Read each one, starting from the bottom. While this is an unusual request and requires time, I believe you will be blessed. I was struck by the raw emotion within his written words and yet that overwhelming grief that is expressed captures the finality of death and the burden on those it has taken from. There is no good side to death, you can’t dress it up with all the common clichés we are prone to use as we sincerely try to comfort those whom it has taken from. It has been said that you only die once but it is possible for the living to die many times.

There are always those chapters in the bible that for some reason or another stay with us. In Ecclesiastes for me it is Chapter 3. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” This is then followed by verses that list fourteen specific things, a schedule for life events you might say. One commentary points out that the question of eternality and spirituality cannot be addressed, because they cannot be seen “under the sun”, without the help of God’s Holy Spirit and the Scriptures; the commentary says all we can do is to simply rejoice in his works before giving way to the next generation.*( *The Bible Panorama)

The writer of the blogs I have referred you to picked Ecclesiastes 9 as a reference point. From a purely human view the word as written here in chapter 9 says there is a common destiny for all of us. We will all die. Death nullifies everything, no good, no bad, simply nothing. The Jewish Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, you die, end of story. Now I should note that not all Jews believed that, even when their understanding of resurrection differs greatly from the Christian belief. So the view here in chapter three is more or less, eat, drink and be merry. We will all have the same fate regardless of what we do. In both chapters there is agreement in the word that God will judge all things as equal. Bluntly put, just do your thing, stay busy and leave without a fuss. It is not my intent to challenge or question the grief of another. I am thankful for this gentleman barring his soul as he has done in this series of blogs. I cannot stress enough how your reading these writings will be time well spent.

You may be asking yourself after reading this far….. “What’s The Point?”*(Paranormal Christ)

Nathan, I am thankful for the opportunity through your writings to somehow in a small way, devoid of a world of well known clichés, share your grief. Maybe, just maybe, if your father could of had a last word with you……..Maybe… Paul writes to the church in Philippi to encourage them to rejoice in their trials and to be considerate of one another. I believe in verse nine what Paul writes ..Maybe..your father would have shared with you.

Philippians 3: 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

I feel that the ” Beginning of The Promise” comes with the death of this life. Next week we will explore the promise that we of the community of faith have inherited because of Christ and the Cross.

Peace my friend and God bless.

jk