Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Death and Disneyland Monday, March 3, 2008 Isaiah 65:17-25 Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind ... The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard no more. Never again will there be an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed ... As the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord ... Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord. My son Marc doesn't want to be an EMT. He just doesn't want to be around death. Most of us feel the same way; I certainly do. Death might always be nearby, but I am all too willing to avert my eyes. When the kids got hurt growing up, we used the emergency room no more than a handful of times. My fear of feeling out of control kept us out sometimes, maybe when we should have been there. "It's not so bad. It'll be OK. Let me hold you." My favorite thing was to cover their pain with my magic handkerchief. I thought it was magic, anyway. Seemed to work most of the time. And we always prayed for them. But I see more clearly now that I prayed with half my head buried in the sand. There are two realities that exist simultaneously - 1) the culture of life and death, which will grind me up like it has everyone since Adam and Eve and 2) God's promised land of peace and plenty, with no more weeping or gnashing of teeth. Jesus brings us the kingdom of heaven. It did not fade away when he left us, and yet we still weep. And gnash our teeth. Can I as Jesus' brother embrace the joyous vision of God's new world and give my whole self to rescuing the perishing? My eyes need to be open to both, to the darkness and the light. I hope I'm always able to be a glass-half-full-guy. I always want to expect God to answer before I call, hear before I say a word. Why not? But the half-empty-glass sits there on the counter too. It's just as real. Death will come. Injustice will strike many lives. Horrible sickness and senseless accidents will claim many lives. God's love transcends my feelings, my philosophical biases, and the twin halves of life on earth. I might be hopeful or melancholy, but God holds me up. Wonderful joy abounds over the earth. Even as babies are killed still by bullets. And all the while God grants sleep to those he loves. Let me respond with your love, Lord, to the hot and cold, the joy and sorrow, the life and death of every day. "; Add      Edit    Delete