No one likes goodbyes, especially those that are a little bit more permanent than others. “See you later” is fine. That one is easier because it comes with an understanding that a short period of time will pass before you are able to see the other person. But, goodbyes, on the other hand, usually signify an even longer period of time, a time that is of uncertain length.
Over these past two weeks, I find myself facing two kinds of goodbyes. One was through death, when my wife’s uncle passed away suddenly and unexpectedly; the other is through a departure of location, with my good friend Pastor Jim packing up and leaving Calvary / Illinois this weekend for Texas. Both are painful and both will linger for a while.
One can make the obvious point that one is a bit more permanent than the other. When a friend moves away, there are still opportunities for contact and connection through phone calls, visits, mail, e-mail, videoconferencing and Facebook contact. On the other hand, death does not make room for these provisions.
As I ponder on these vastly different goodbyes and the new emotions and realities that they now present in my life, it strikes me that as a Christian, we understand that as painful and heart-wrenching death is, we get that death is just another version of a move. Rather than moving from one city to another, one is moving from one reality to another, from one world to another. If we truly understood and grasped that truth, then at the bottom of our grief, we know at some point in time we will see that person again even though we can’t send off an e-mail. Our grief is NOT that this person is forever lost to us. Our grief is just that this person has moved out of “town,” out of our current reach.
Praise God for that, indeed! This, of course, brings us to the sobering revelation that if we want to see and hang out with these people later, salvation becomes urgent, a very important issue. There is only one permanent goodbye in the world AND the world to come and that is one that is between a believer and an unbeliever.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. I do not believe that God wants our goodbyes whatever they be – moving, going home, going to heaven – to be eternal, just temporary.
– Matt
deathgoodbyegriefmoverealitysalvationtruth
Goodbyes
June 23, 2011
Calvary
Comments Off on Goodbyes
Matt
No one likes goodbyes, especially those that are a little bit more permanent than others. “See you later” is fine. That one is easier because it comes with an understanding that a short period of time will pass before you are able to see the other person. But, goodbyes, on the other hand, usually signify an even longer period of time, a time that is of uncertain length.
Over these past two weeks, I find myself facing two kinds of goodbyes. One was through death, when my wife’s uncle passed away suddenly and unexpectedly; the other is through a departure of location, with my good friend Pastor Jim packing up and leaving Calvary / Illinois this weekend for Texas. Both are painful and both will linger for a while.
One can make the obvious point that one is a bit more permanent than the other. When a friend moves away, there are still opportunities for contact and connection through phone calls, visits, mail, e-mail, videoconferencing and Facebook contact. On the other hand, death does not make room for these provisions.
As I ponder on these vastly different goodbyes and the new emotions and realities that they now present in my life, it strikes me that as a Christian, we understand that as painful and heart-wrenching death is, we get that death is just another version of a move. Rather than moving from one city to another, one is moving from one reality to another, from one world to another. If we truly understood and grasped that truth, then at the bottom of our grief, we know at some point in time we will see that person again even though we can’t send off an e-mail. Our grief is NOT that this person is forever lost to us. Our grief is just that this person has moved out of “town,” out of our current reach.
Praise God for that, indeed! This, of course, brings us to the sobering revelation that if we want to see and hang out with these people later, salvation becomes urgent, a very important issue. There is only one permanent goodbye in the world AND the world to come and that is one that is between a believer and an unbeliever.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. I do not believe that God wants our goodbyes whatever they be – moving, going home, going to heaven – to be eternal, just temporary.
– Matt
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