Death Comes Calling

My best friend died last week. I don't guess it was unexpected, Harold has been struggling with his health for several years. I just wasn't prepared. But are you ever prepared?

Harold was a man of God - he brought the Word with power and conviction. He preached in word and in song and he lived what he preached. So he was prepared and he lived as he died.

His fmaily and friends loved him. In the words of Scripture he has received the "crown of righteousness." In his families words, "we do not grieve as those without hope." But we do grieve.

I shall miss his laughter. I shall miss his obvious love for his West virginia bride of 50 years. I shall miss the opportunity to match his wit or probe his thoughts. I shall miss his love for the Church and I shall miss his love for me.
Once a month we would take over a restaurant and "catch up" with our families. He was an unrelated uncle to my children. Simply put, I shall miss him.

At his funeral my daughter said, "Dad, death seems to come in three's, I wonder who is next." I guess that depends on where you are in life. For the folks at Bridgeville, PA it came in the form of a deranged shooter who simply wasted life. For people in Afghanistan is comes with the suddenness of a missle or an IED. But who is next, my daughter, I simply don't know.

They say death sometimes comes as a friend, I have not experienced that.

When death has touched my life it has been through the tragedy of a mistake or an accident. But death does come calling; it is the end point of life as we know it. But I want to shout to the world and to death itself - death is not the final word.

Hard as death can be and has been for me, God is the final word. And God's word has been life. so yes, death comes calling - but God's love carries me even through that final breath.