One morning in fact at 3 a.m. I received a call from a member of a congregation where I was serving as an interim. Through her deep and unnerving sobs I managed to hear, Pastor, can you come to the hospital. Her son had been in some kind of an accident. I told her that I would be there in about 40 minutes. As I was driving I had the feeling that the news was not good. When I got to the emergency area. I was taken to where this woman was. She was hysterical. Her son had died in the accident. I sat with her for the next two hours talking, listening to her questions, her pain. She apparently had not yet seen her son. She asked if I would accompany her to see him, There was the need to identify him. It was not a pretty sight. But somehow she found the strength to look at him, to touch him. We stood for almost half an hour. I would leave the hospital about 7a.m. that morning. There were so many emotions swirling in my head and in my heart. I remember driving across the Hoan Bridge and suddenly feeling overwhelmed by what I had witnessed. On the day of this young mans funeral the mother as we were driving to the burial sight the mother wanted to know if her son was going to hell? I was trying to make sense of her question when she added did I believe that a person who took his own life was destined for hell? There had been some conversations going on within her family circle about how this young man died and someone had been emphatic that it indeed was suicide. I knew that whatever had been said was unsettling to this mother. She was concerned about her sons soul. My response to her question was that I could not answer that with any degree of certainty, no one could. What I knew is that God was merciful and his mercy was an everlasting mercy. In the final analysis salvation is a gift that depends not on what we do or do not do. It is all about Grace and your son is held in Gods grace. But I also thought about the cruelty of the person who felt the need to say this to a mother who had just lost a son. That was not about trying to comfort her. It was the deepest kind of insensitivity. Even if the person committed suicide none of us are so righteous that we can stand in Gods place. It is better in moments like that to offer kindness rather than cruelty.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 23:37:04 +0000
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