Orphaned

    Jesus said, 'I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.' John 14:18 

    In 2021 I became an orphan. Probably not in the way we often think. I was, after all, 63 years old when my father suddenly died on this past Easter afternoon. So I wasn't a child in the strictest sense of the word. But my dad's death that followed my mom's death years earlier left me without any parents.

    I have found being without parents to be rather strange. I have not lived with them for more than 40 years. Because we lived 650 miles apart I sometimes only saw my parents 3-4 times a year. As they aged, our roles sometimes reversed as I became more like a parent than child to them.

    But my parents knew me longer than anyone. They knew both my foibles and my gifts. My mom and dad emotionally supported  and faithfully encouraged me. My dad and I went to more ballgames and on more fishing outings than I can count. My dad and I talked on the phone nearly Sunday evening for many years. My parents were in some ways among my most solid human anchors.

    I am now the parent of not just three marvelous sons, but also three wonderful daughters-in-law as well as five incredible grandchildren. Few things give me more joy than being a husband, father, father-in-law and grandpa. Yet I wouldn't mind being my living parents' son for a while longer.

    While I was graced to be able to say goodbye to my mom, I never got that chance with my dad. Because he died little more than 12 hours after we learned he was sick, we were on the road to Grand Rapids, MI when he died. While I prayed with my dad as he was dying, he was unresponsive. While I told him I loved him and thanked God for him, I can't be at all certain he could hear me.

   I would not want my parents to come back to me. My mom and dad are, by God's amazing grace that they long ago received with their faith in Jesus Christ, in God's presence in the heavenly realm. To ask my dad to leave that splendor and glory for even just 3 minutes so I that I could say goodbye to him and tell him I love him would be beyond selfish. 

    Yet I still miss my dad and mom. Odd things and moments remind me of them. Thanksgiving without the cranberry relish my mom always prepared. Michigan's football team's victory over Ohio State this year that my dad and I had long anticipated and talked about. Our outdoor family Christmas party with our whole family.

    Yet I'm grateful to God that I'm not an orphan. When Jesus was preparing to leave his disciples, he told them, 'I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.' With Jesus' Spirit's help, I claim that promise. My parents have passed from life to Life. But since the Spirit has graciously come to me, I am not an orphan.