A Day of Sadness

Today has been extremely emotional. At 8:45 this morning, Mom received word from home that my father's brother, Lance, had passed away in the night. Uncle Lance had suffered from Alzheimer's Disease for several years. While we know he is in a better place and his suffering has ended, our hearts still ache at our loss.

Early this afternoon, I learned via internet feed of the shooting in West Memphis, Arkansas, during a drug-related traffic stop that left two officers dead on I-40 at Airport Road. The suspects were later found at the local Wal-Mart, where two additional officers received gun shot wounds. At last account, Sheriff Dick Busby was listed in stable condition after being shot in the shoulder. The other officer received several wounds in the abdomen and was listed in critical condition.

It pained me throughout the afternoon to watch my Dad dealing with his grief. After dinner, Mom and I told him that we would make whatever arrangements necessary to allow him to be at the visitation tomorrow evening. When I said that I would cancel tomorrow evening's performance and take him home, Dad broke down and had to leave the room. At last, Dad agreed to buy an airline ticket to Little Rock where O'Neal will pick him up tomorrow afternoon. Thankfully, we were able to find a very reasonable fare on Southwest; now I just have to make sure I can get him on the flight without any major complications. We will leave Jerry's house tomorrow morning at 8am in order to get him to Hobby Airport in south Houston.

Grief and sadness are as much a part of life as joy and happiness. It is interesting to realize that the presence of sadness is a result of sin and was not something that God intended for His creation to experience. Grief is not directly related with our feelings for the lost one. We know that in death the suffering has ended. Grief is our response to our loss; our emotions recognize that there will no longer be interaction with that loved one and our hearts cry out in hope that the void will be filled.

As I think through this day, my mind recalls the song "If You Could See Me Now."


After all the pain, Lance is joyously sitting at the feet of Jesus and walking streets of gold. I have to smile at the thought that his precious Gertrude was among the first to greet him and walked him through all the glories, promising to bring him back later for a formal tour. "But first," I can hear her explain, "you simply MUST see Jesus." Perhaps it's simply a comfort to those of us who remain, but I can hear Lance proclaiming that his pain is totally erased, he is finally complete and filled with joy now that he has seen His Savior face to face! What a glorious promise of hope we have when we believe in Christ!

Thankful for peace in the midst of sadness,
Kennith