Mourning in the Morning

This morning’s church service starred 25 youngsters who sang a story about the Christmas Star of Bethlehem. They were adorable dressed in Sunday finery that was enhanced with angel wings, sheep bonnets, and shepherd’s- wear.

But before their procession down the aisle to the sanctuary stage, Pastor Kyle took the mic and focused our attention on the 26 people who died in Friday’s elementary school shooting, most of them young children the same ages as those we were about to see perform in church.

Kyle did a masterful job of balancing intense grief with Christmas joy, telling us that God hates evil and knows how each Connecticut family feels, since he witnessed the merciless killing of his own Son. We were reminded that his plans include making all things right, in the end. In other words, we don’t have to grieve without hope that justice will be done. Meanwhile, we’re to turn our conversations and our questions into prayer, which is what we did next.

Twenty-six members of the congregation held 26 pieces of paper on which the names and ages of those slain were written, and during the pastor’s prayer for their families, each name and age was read aloud. Emotional sniffles could be heard amongst us, and thoughts of 26 families planning funerals today brought a mix of nausea and grief.

But Linda, our pianist, soothed us all by adding the comforting music of Braham’s Lullaby to her offertory, reminding us of the eternal, impenetrable safety of God’s arms.

Later, while waiting for lunch at a restaurant table for 17, my brother-in-law Bervin helped put things into perspective in a prayer. He made a request for those 26 heartbroken families by asking God to pull their thoughts toward Him. His important prayer was that the momentous losses of their loved ones would cause them to turn their lives over to the Lord of love and eternal security.

And that’s really the bottom line, not just for those involved in the shootings but for all of us, even the children in our church musical this morning. No matter what happens here on earth, especially in terms of bodily harm, it’s important to look to the condition of our souls, because it’s that part of us that can live forever where morning will never include mourning.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

(Horatio Gates Spafford, 1873)

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope…. We will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13,17)

The Bookends of Life

Today Birgitta and I talked about the unpredictability of a baby’s arrival and the resulting stress of not being able to plan ahead. Will labor begin this afternoon? Tomorrow? A week from now? Which calendar events will we have to cancel because we’re on our way to the hospital?

Of course those of us not anticipating a labor and delivery know similar frustrations. Although Birgitta’s situation is blatantly unpredictable, the rest of us don’t really have things under control, either. But it’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking we do. Ha ha to that.

Any single day has a thousand elements that can “wiggle” and force us from planned agendas. A potent example occurred last weekend through a phone call from a young man close to our family. Earlier that day his mother had died in her apartment as the result of a fire. This news sent him into a flurry of schedule-shuffling and has rearranged his priorities every hour since then.

Any one of us can be on top of the world one minute and in turmoil the next. All it takes is a tiny text, a quick phone call, or a brief email. Confusion and commotion could be around the next corner for any of us, and that even includes the baby that’s about to join our family.

Birgitta’s little girl will shortly be thrown into stressful turmoil of her own, just by being born. We know many of the ways her day of birth is going to be a tough one, but she has no idea. For the moment she’s resting peacefully, unencumbered by expectations or anxiety, blissfully unaware of what’s just ahead. But as labor begins and then progresses, she’ll undergo circumstances quite different from the agenda she’s followed for 9 months without interruption.

A familiar Scripture says, “We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.” (1 Timothy 6:7) We generally think that refers to physical nakedness, but it could also mean a baby arrives without bringing a care or concern, no preconceptions, misconceptions, or expectations. But can we apply that in reverse at the end of our lives when we “take nothing out?”

Actually we can. When we die, as our friend’s mother did, we don’t take our worries or health problems with us, our pain, or any other negative, including relationship struggles. So the idea “you can’t take it with you” turns out to be something good.

Can we learn anything from the truth that our lives are bookended by “nothing-in, nothing-out?” Maybe wisdom in this is to hold our plans lightly and refuse to stress when disturbing texts, calls, and emails derail us. Maybe we should trust God to use every derailment (and our responses to them) toward readying us for eternity.

And that’s the one exception to the “nothing-out” rule. Preparation for eternity? It turns out we can take that with us.

“Even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10)

Say it well.

Years ago when my sister Mary and I were visiting Sweden, we launched out from our hostess’ home (in a borrowed car) to buy souvenirs. Hours later, when heading back, we got disoriented… and completely lost.

Road signs were in Swedish (duh), and we couldn’t read them. We had no phone and only vague knowledge of an address, and at a gas station the attendant couldn’t understand our questions. Two frustrating hours passed, and through the process of systematically trying every exit and every turn, we finally found our way back. If only we’d had a translator.

This morning I was wondering if Nate needs a translator in paradise. How presumptuous to think he’s speaking English, yet maybe he is. Scripture says those gathered there will be in groups representing every earthly language. (Revelation 7:9) So how will we understand each other?

Maybe as we voice our native tongues, each listener will instinctively understand other languages like a computer effortlessly translates foreign sentences. If that’s true, Nate is still speaking English. Or maybe he’s having fun trying out his college Russian.

A more tidy explanation, though, might be that God will put a new language into our heads and mouths, something supernaturally provided. I do know he’ll use words as a tool to promote togetherness rather than division, since family unity is important.

I love words, and I love putting them together, taking thoughts that are floating around and pinning them to blank paper with ink. My satisfaction in creating word pictures and stories is much like a puzzler enjoying the process of assembling 1000 pieces without ever looking at the box-picture.

But language can also be a barrier. Missionaries and diplomats overcome this by partnering with interpreters, people who know two languages and serve as a link between them.

Louisa, Birgitta, and I have supported a little girl who lives in India since she was 3 years old. Her name is Jayanti, and she’s now a pretty teenager of 15… who speaks no English. Every few weeks we receive a hand-written letter from her, along with a typed translation from an interpreter. We stare at Jayanti’s swirly script and can’t make heads or tails out of it. Without the accompanying translation, we wouldn’t be able to have a relationship with her at all. And of course our mail back to her also needs interpretation. The best we can hope for is that those translating at both ends are skilled and honest.

As for Nate, whether he’s speaking English or something else, he’s in the presence of a keenly skilled, flawlessly honest Interpreter, who fluently speaks and understands every one of the 6000+ languages that exist. Thankfully, that means he completely understands those of us still on the earth. Though we might get confused, he never does.

“By your blood [Jesus] you ransomed people for God from every… language.” (Revelation 5:9)