Eugene Peterson writes of visiting a Benedictine monastery in New Mexico’s desert. As he walked by the cemetery to lunch, he noted an empty grave. “Did one of the brothers just die?” he asked one of the monks. “No, that’s for the next one” came the unexpected reply! It was visual reminder of the shortness of this life to that community of men who were to pursuing life centered in the Spirit. (The Pastor, A Memoir – HarperOne, 2011)
We Americans sanitize death, don’t we? We have no time for it, move through the rituals that accompany it as quickly as we decently can, and then hasten to resume our lives. Discarded as old-moded relics are formal extended times of mourning. We leave our dying loved ones in the hands of the professionals. With tummy tucks, liposuction, and hours in the gym we cultivate the fantasy that we can live here forever. And, we are spiritually impoverished because of the disconnect with mortality. My first extended walk ‘through the valley of the shadow of death,’ came three years ago. I spent two days and nights each week, for 6 months, at my father’s bedside. It was exhausting, sorrowful, and provided me with an opportunity to know my Dad in a way that I had never enjoyed in 50 years! We moved Mom into our home three months ago. Each day we have walked with her as the darkness deepens. It’s the hardest thing I have ever done to this point in my life.
Jesus took the words of the 22nd Psalm, a song of David, as his cry from the cross. I take them as my cry as I write. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?" (Psalm 22:1, NIV) God had not truly abandoned His Son; He would raise Him from the grave three days hence. By faith, I know that He not abandoned me either. But the anguish of my soul is such that He seems far away. Watching my mother’s life slowly ebb away is not something that is poetic or easily turned into preacher prose! It hurts, plain and simple; a kind of surgical pain. I find myself having little use for trivialities these days. Much of what my culture worships seems silly, often downright stupid, to me at this moment.
My prayer in this time is - "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them." (Psalm 22:1-4, NLT)
"I was thrust into your arms at my birth. You have been my God from the moment I was born. Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me. My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!" (Psalm 22:10-12, NLT)
"Snatch me from the lion’s jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen. I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people. Praise the Lord, all you who fear him! Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob! Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy. He has not turned his back on them, but has listened to their cries for help." (Psalm 22:21-24, NLT)
Here’s my hope! For the moment it is just a tiny spot of light on the horizon of time, like the North star that guides the traveler. But, I know it will lead me home.
"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." (1 Corinthians 15:22-23, NIV) "I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:50-54, NIV)
"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." (1 Corinthians 15:22-23, NIV) "I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:50-54, NIV)
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Jesus Led Me All The Way
Some day life's journey will be o'er,
And I shall reach that distant shore,
I'll sing while ent'ring heaven's door,
"Jesus led me all the way."
If God should let me there review,
The winding paths of earth I knew,
It would be proven clear and true,
"Jesus led me all the way."
And hither to my Lord hath led,
Today He guides each step I tread;
And soon in heav'n it will be said,
"Jesus led me all the way."
Jesus led me all the way,
Led me step by step each day;
I will tell the saints and angels,
As I lay my burdens down,
"Jesus led me all the way."
Peterson, John W.
© 1954. Renewed 1982 John W. Peterson Music Company
CCLI License No. 810055
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