In the Face of Tragedy

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about

those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men,

who have no hope.  We believe that Jesus died and rose 

again, and so we believe that God will bring with

Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven

with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel 

and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in 

Christ shall rise first.  After that,

we who are still alive and are left will be caught

up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord

in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Therefore encourage each other with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

It has been a tough week.  Ten days ago or so, the brother of a young student of mine suffered a severe head injury in a golf cart accident.  It looked really bad at the beginning, then it appeared that he was getting better, then he went bad again, then stabilized.  Back and forth, back and forth.  Monday she came to her lesson with the news that he was stable.  This morning I received word that she had been pulled out of school to say goodbye.  This young man leaves behind Mom and Dad, a brother and sister, a fiancee, and many, many friends. 

I cannot imagine the pain of a younger sister saying goodbye to a much-loved older brother.  How do you do that?  How do you pick up the pieces after the funeral and get on with high school and all its activities?  How do you make sense of such a tragedy?  All I could think of to do today was send her a text message:  I am thinking about you and praying for you - I am willing to do anything I can to help you.  Words seem so inadequate in the face of such a wall of grief.  I can and will pray, however, and I invite you to pray for this family as well.  Thank you for doing so.