Skip to main content

Ecclesiastes 3: Sadness

I remember when my daughters were about 5 and 6. I was driving the icy highway between Nipawin and Tisdale Saskatchewan. It was Spring time. The weather was changing but this afternoon there was black ice on the road. I hit the black ice not speeding, but going too fast. I lost control of the car. It crossed the road, hit the ditch and rolled over a time or two. I was completely disoriented and in shock as I looked back to see if my kids were safe. The car was upside down. I remember undoing my youngest's seat belt while she was dangling above me, only to have her plummet down to the ceiling. We were fine. I was in shock. I wandered out into the highway; no one hit me. The police and other help were there right away. The car was written off but none of us had a scratch (Maybe Sarah-Grace a small scratch from when I undid her seat belt.)

The next day or so I drove that same stretch of road (in a different car, as that one no longer ran). I pulled the car over to the side of the road where the other car had flipped. I got out of the car and I looked around. It was a beautiful day. The birds were singing; the snow was almost gone; the black ice that we slid on the day before was certainly gone. It was a beautiful day. And then it struck me ...even if we had all perished in that car crash yesterday, it would still be a beautiful day today, the birds would still be singing, the snow would still be melting and the ice would be gone. As a new pastor then, this remembrance has struck me at every funeral that I have been a part of. The beauty of life continues. As sad as life can be at times - and it can be sad; I have been sad. As sad as I can be. Tomorrow somewhere, for someone, the birds will be singing, the snow will be melting, the ice will have gone away; it will be a beautiful day

 More daily blogs at:

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 147:7-11: Does God Prohibit the Kilt?

  7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;     make music to our God on the harp.   8 He covers the sky with clouds;     he supplies the earth with rain     and makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He provides food for the cattle     and for the young ravens when they call.   10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,     nor his delight in the legs of a man [or ‘the warrior’]; 11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,     who put their hope in his unfailing love.   Psalm 147:10 : “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.” I thought this was an appropriate passage to look at on Robbie Burns Day. For Christmas one year Susan bought me some Bible Commentaries on Psalms. In one of these books the author, Peter C. Craigie, from Scotland, writes:   …. It was the custom in Scotland for boys to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Poor No More! Count me in! (Mt 26:11, Mk 14:7, Jn 12:8, Dt 15:11)

Matthew 26:11 (Mark 14:7, John 12:8) Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 15:11 in saying, “the poor will always be with you”   As this is the case, Ignacio Ellacuria says, in essence, the great salvific task is to evangelize the poor so that out of their poverty they may attain the spirit necessary first to escape their indulgence and oppression, second to put an end to oppressive structures, and third to be used to inaugurate a new heaven and a new earth, where sharing trumps accumulating and where there is time to hear and enjoy God’s voice in the heart of the material world and in the heart of human history. [3]   I think that is very important. We need to evangelize the poor. We know what the word evangelize means, right? It comes from the Greek word ‘euangelion’, which means ‘good message’ or ‘good news’. [4]  We need to share the good news with the poor. Jesus, as recorded in Luke 4:18, in his very early sermon in the synagogue in his very own hometown quoted the prophet Isaia...
Post a Comment
Read more

Resurrection and Frankenstein's Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17 and Revelation 21 3b-4)

 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  We went to see Frankenstein the Ballet last night. If anyone knows that story. The beginning is like the book. Dr. Frankenstein makes a creation out of the parts of corpses who had had terrible things happen in their lives - and then he brings life to the new creation and it becomes whole - with a whole new lease on life. A new chance to live. No matter all the awful stuff that had happened before. Now - the book actually ends poorly after that but the ballet does not. The ballet includes a story of Giselle. This bride, who herself suffered a horrible fate, learned forgiveness and is resurrected. She meets Frankenstein's creation; they fall in love - and start off again, this time living a transformed life. Revelation 21:3b-4: God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or ...
Post a Comment
Read more