Granddaddy's passing

Last week I traveled with my family to the Eastern Shore of Virginia for my grandfather's funeral. His passing was completely unexpected and has forced me to think about the inevitability of death for us all. I've thought before and wondered about the effects of a society that hides death in many ways. Though we are spared the uncomfortableness of death we slowly forget that our time really is short and tomorrow is never promised to us. Especially those of us who are relatively young.

It was really good to gather with family and celebrate the life of Granddaddy. He was an amazing man in so many ways. A father of eleven children, a husband for almost sixty years, a veteran, a farmer. He gave back to his community and traveled around the world sharing his expertise in farming to developing countries. He was committed and active in the church to the very end. And yet he always seemed to have time to play a game of Gin Rummy when I asked. He used to give me a quarter if I could cut the deck to exactly the 21 cards needed to deal a hand of Gin. We shared the same name. He was Thomas Berry Long, Jr. and I am Thomas Berry Long, IV.

Everyone who knew Granddaddy will certainly miss him but there are good things that come when someone we know and love passes away. I was comforted the morning I heard the news by the verse in Psalm 116 that says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of those faithful to him." Granddaddy was certainly faithful to the Lord and he is now present with him. It is precious indeed. He is now in the presence of the one who truly gives life. He has a new body, a body not touched by corruption, disease, or weakness in any way. What a wonderful thing! I can't wait for that reality to be extended to all of creation and to everyone in right standing with God.

But there is another thing that is good that comes from an encounter with the reality of our mortality. It gives focus and direction to our life. When I pause to reflect on the truth that I have but a short time in this life it makes me want to live more intentionally. To make my life count for something whenever my time is finished. To be more present to my family and friends, to enjoy the good things in life, and to work with purpose for things that will last. In days past it was much more common to wake up in a house where someone had passed away. The reality of death was much closer to home then it is today where most people (in our country) die in a hospital. We've lost something as a society in that. But in light of eternity, I want to live out my days in a way that will count. I'm so thankful to the Lord who offered me eternal life and forgiveness for the sins that separated me from him. In light of that, and with the reminder that my time on earth will pass, how could I not gladly offer my life back to the Lord. To run the race of life with endurance, fixing my eyes on Jesus, being cheered on by the faithful, like Granddaddy, and not losing heart.

How many times do I have to learn?

This morning I read in Psalms 103: "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him"

It reminded me of something that happened to me in Haiti on this trip:

We had been working for a couple of days, digging ditches and laying pipes to bring water to people's houses from the community well. I was swinging a pick axe to break up the ground so that someone could come behind me and shovel out the dirt for the ditch. Once, as I brought the pick axe up over my head before bringing it down I felt the all too familiar pain in my lower back that has come to precede a major bout of back pain. Typically, after something like what I felt by the next day I will be immobilized in pain and unable to even walk correctly for at least a week.

I put down the axe and moved to side of the road and began to think about how I was going to navigate the rest of the trip once my back stiffened up. Graciously some members of the team surrounded me, laying hands on my back, and began to pray for God to heal it. At first I was grateful for their compassion but as they prayed I began to feel more and more uncomfortable. I began to protest their praying because I was becoming aware of all of the pain, hunger, and brokenness of the people in the village we had come to serve. It felt wrong to pray for my needs when there were so much greater needs around us 24 hours a day.

I believe a spiritual battle was being waged at that moment. Nick, an InterVarsity staff colleague said some words in response to my protest that I believe were directly from the Lord. He said, "Even in the midst of the poverty and pain of these people the Lord cares for you as well." That my needs, no matter how small, are not insignificant in the eyes of the Lord. I realized in that moment how much I struggle with God's love, especially when I'm in touch with how unworthy I am. But that is part of receiving God's grace and it is truly hard for the proud. And sadly, I am still a very proud man.

(Amazingly, in spite of me, the Lord took away my pain that day and though it didn't go away 100% it never hindered me from working or moving around for the rest of the trip. In the moment of the injury it felt exactly the same as previous times when I've been immobilized for a week. Call it what you want, but I believe it was the healing grace of our Lord.)

Haiti

I returned yesterday from 9 day trip to Haiti. What InterVarsity calls a Global Plunge. Fifteen InterVarsity students and three staff traveled to the village of Neply in Haiti on the Leogane plain. We were about an hour due west of Port-au-Prince.

The people and land of Haiti both captured and broke my heart. It is a beautiful land, with sugarcane fields spanning the plains and rising into mountains, but much of the land, like it's people has been stripped and left impoverished. On our trip, we got to come alongside a group of men who have banded together to seek the betterment of each other and the people of Neply. There are a fraternity of sorts and if you're interested you can check out their site here.

We walked twenty minutes each day from Neply to another small village called LaSalle where we brought running water to the front yards of ten homes in the village. Previously there was one well in the center of the village that every household had to travel to multiple times each day, filling up buckets or containers with water and traveling back to their homes in order to cook, do laundry, and for all their water needs. The look of pure joy on the people's faces as they turned on a water spigot in their front yard made all the work and effort worth it. God is good and the faith of many in Neply challenged ours greatly. The question of what is needed in a place like Neply has left me with more questions than answers.

I hope to post some more reflections here in the days to come. For now, I'm enjoying being home with my family and wrestling with some of those questions the trip left me with.