More than mortality

On Sunday I received a phone call to let us know a dear friend had died. It wasn't a surprise. Roy was over 80, was suffering with dementia and had cancer. But I am still sad. 

He is Christian, and so I believe the promises of the gospel of Jesus Christ are being fulfilled for him even now. Death has no victory, the grave has no sting. I believe that. And yet I'm feeling the sting of death. The man I knew as strong and loud and determined became confused and sick and forgetful. The last time I saw him I spent an hour talking with him, but he didn't know who I was. Even though we had shared precious times together over twenty years, he didn't know who I was. That makes me sad, and I can't even begin to imagine what it is like for people when it is their own father or mother who doesn't recognise them.

I am sad that a life has ended. I am sad for the way this life ended. I am sad that I didn't get to see him before he died. I am sad.

Yet within that sadness I hold on to the promises of the gospel. Death has no victory. There may be a sting, but it will not last. Nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God. 

Roy, I know you can't read these words now, but I'll write them anyway. Thank you for being our friend. Thank you for caring for me and Anne and our boys when they were so little. Thank you for letting them play in your backyard. Thank you for fixing our bathroom and putting a fence on the verandah. 

We will miss you.