Death

 

He will swallow up death in victory,

And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces…

Isaiah 25:8a

Yesterday, Richmond experienced an earthquake – a 5.9 magnitude tremor that shook from the North Carolina all the way up to New York, New Jersey and beyond.  The East Coast has not seen a quake of that strength since 1897.  The Internet was flooded with comments and conjectures, people were evacuated from their buildings, and the topic of conversation for the rest of the day was, “What did it feel like where you were?”

The media reported that there were no deaths or injuries associated with the quake, for which we all were thankful.  That did not, however, stop Death from tracing his cold hand through the city.  At some point yesterday afternoon amidst all the after-quake hullabaloo, a good friend of mine lost her precious son to a seizure: the knock at the door, the policewoman on the porch, the overwhelming shock and grief – all so unexpected, so overwhelming.  Death does not care for the niceties of time or place, and never plays fair.

There is a chorus in The Messiah that has always been one of my favorites:

Since by man came death,

by Man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die,

even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

These words are the Hope of every human being who has lost someone precious to the darkness of the grave.  Through His own death, Christ destroyed Death’s hold on his prey.  In Christ we all have the promise of the resurrection and of life eternal.  This truth is what will encompass my friend and her family, enabling them to face the next few days with courage and hope. 

Prayer Needs for Today

Dulcie, Michael & Chelsea in the death of Aaron 

Judy for recovery after surgery

Joel for his first days of college life