Sadness and hope

When I returned from vacation this past weekend I heard some very sad news…

A friend’s 11 year old daughter, Sydney Ives passed away after a 18 month fight with an inoperable brain tumor. http://www.rrstar.com/news/x1972894633/Girl-loses-fight-against-cancer

My fourth grade teacher, Rhonda Kluck,  who was later my high school Algebra teacher passed away Sunday after fighting cancer for 7 years. She was only 44.  http://www.legacy.com/rrstar/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=136064669

I got a Caring Bridge journal update yesterday containing the news that a friend of mine from Florida is likely facing cancer again.  She is only 35. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/victoriahage

Add all of this to what a neighboring pastor is going through with his nine year old daughter, http://matttapley.wordpress.com/ , and I’ve about had it with the enemy reeking havoc in the lives of people I care about.

 Jeff started a new series at church this past Sunday called “The End.” , talking about the end of the world and the hope that we have as Christians. He used this passage and I find that I am having to encourage myself with it quite often this past week…

1 Thessalonians 4:12-18 (New Living Translation) ” And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.  So encourage each other with these words.”

Some days I just want to scream. This world seems so cruel, so unfair.

I yearn for eternity,  for no more pain and suffering. I yearn for Jesus.

And the amazing news is that He is with us, right here, right now, whatever we are going through…God says in Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze”.

Roosevelt Hunter

People die all the time. It’s the circle of life, right? In theory, I accept this. I know that this is how the world works. Unless Jesus returns first, every single one of us will die, sometime. But I think we all just walk around pretending we have lots of time, time to live, time to squander, time to love, time to procrastinate…and on and on and on.

A great man died last Monday. His name was Roosevelt Hunter. He was a husband, a dad, a friend, a mentor, a preacher, and so many more “titles”. He was the guy everyone wanted to be around because life was just so much better when he was there. He exuded energy and life and Jesus. He touched literally countless lives for the better. His funeral, no,wait, that’s not what it was called. His Celebration of Life service could have gone on for days if all those who could’ve shared his life’s impact had been given the chance to speak.

Hollywood does a great job of depicting heroes with superhuman capabilities and powers. Spiderman, Wolverine, and even Peter Petrelli give us a glimpse of what is possible through the eyes of our imaginations. They help us think in terms of the bigger picture…that the world needs saving by cosmic forces of good.

Real life heroes are often hard to come by. And yet, I think we all want and need heroes in our lives, flesh-and-blood heroes that show us how life can be lived in an abundant way, without the aide of made-up powers only possible through the help of special effects. We need to see ordinary people, people just like us, who are living life in a spectacular way, through the power of the Holy Spirit. These real heroes give us hope for our own lives.

For a bunch of years now, Roosevelt has been one of mine.

And in the wake of his death, I have a nagging internal thought…

“I want my life to really count.”

Yep, that’s it.

Sorry to disappoint you if you were waiting for me to write something super-profound. I know it’s simple and perhaps even a bit cliche. But it’s there, reminding me that each day matters, that how I am living my life matters. If Roosevelt showed us, showed me, anything, it’s to do everything with gusto, to be fully present wherever you are and to die with no regrets.

I plan on doing the same. You see, the world does need saving by cosmic forces of good.

http://www.rooseveltonline.com