2 months and 1 day… the summer has flown by at a snail’s pace
– the school year starts tomorrow for many kids – and Labor Day is right around
the corner – where did the time go?
But for me? 2 months and 1 day. And yet I know all too well that I am not
alone. The father of a colleague dies - the
riots in Charlottesville – a woman killed by a rabid driver - a helicopter crashs and kills 2 – many more injured
in the dis-order and dis-ease. People
are dying all over the world – Kenya – Venezuela – the middle east - Jerusalem
and Palestine. How many mothers, wives,
husbands, children will come home tonite missing one more person from their
family? Death knows no ethnic or racial boundaries.
It doesn’t have to be this way, much of this
death is senseless… but that’s not what is on my mind tonite.
I know I am not alone – there may not be much comfort in that
– but we all - ALL - will experience the death of a spouse if we have one, a
parent, maybe a child, a friend, a colleague, a neighbor, the shopkeeper down
the street, the book seller…..……It’s trite, I know, but death is the end point of
life.
We are all in this thing we call life - and it isn’t always roses and sunshine. Death rears its ugly head – but we are all in
this together – and I know I am not alone. And there is some comfort in that,
while at the same time I lament all those other deaths too.
In the past 2 months and 1 day I have been much more cognizant
of the pain and suffering that others experience in the death of a loved one –
and I know it happens every minute of every day somewhere in the world - maybe even around the corner in my own
neighborhood.
The sermon I heard this morning was about (among others
things) perspective… and it struck a chord with me…. We need to keep the events
of our lives in perspective….that doesn’t always make it easier….. but I think maybe
it might help to mitigate the pain…. we are in this together.
I have to assume that the friends and family of Heather Heyer,
the woman killed in Charlottesville yesterday, will try to make sense of it and
somehow work to ensure that her death was not in vain….and maybe that’s all we can
do once we get past the ‘there, there, it will be ok…. God knows what’s best…’ and
get past the physical pain of yet another unnecessary and senseless death. I can only hope.
We are all in this together.
Somehow, we need to remember that, we are all God’s children –
and yes even the evil, sick and demented ones. But that reflection is for another day.
But for me – at least today – I can sympathize with the families
of those who have died unnecessarily and senselessly. Those families have had their worlds ripped open,
laid bare to the bone, skin and tissue bleeding and jagged, hearts torn in two, as have I. I know how that feels – and you do to.
But we are all in this world together - let’s not lose sight of that perspective.
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