I am not a "fix-it" guy. Oh how I wish I were! I am envious of all those people who can just fix stuff. When it comes to fixing things, I take the mantra—"Do no harm!" I have the genetic ability to make it worse or even better—to harm me and others around me while trying. Over the years, I have learned the humble task of just calling someone who can do the job I cannot do.
This inability has nurtured me in ministry. In ministry, I find myself confronted with things that cannot be fixed. Broken relationships feeding off the anger of the past cannot be fixed. Marriages that are being destroyed by the infidelity of one who will not stop being unfaithful cannot be fixed. The body of a beloved soul that has been engulfed by the disease of cancer cannot be fixed. And the list goes on and on. It is a helpless feeling at times because there is no fix to be had.
That is where God promises just to be. Being there in the midst of the brokenness of life is God's promise. God's presence is the answer.
Can you begin to imagine that on this day God watched? It does not seem right. But God watched to honor the gift of humanity's free will. God watched humanity do its worse to God's son, Jesus. Jesus suffered. Jesus died. But God did not leave. God waited three days to do what only God could do.
The death of a child is one of the most traumatic events that one can live through. I did not realize this until I watched my parents' grief the deaths of their two daughters. It just does not seem right for parents to bury their children no matter what age. But life happens. The good news is that God is present.
On Good Friday (the Friday before Easter) each year, I gather with parents to remember their children. We share the journey together. We light a candle for the children who have died. We assure ourselves and the world that they are not forgotten. So this Friday at 6 p.m. at McKneely's funeral home in Hammond, I will be present with those who know the reality that there are some things that simply cannot be fixed. God will be there with us to remind us that God too knows what it is like to lose a child.
We live through the brokenness to find the new life that God offers to us. It comes after the days of darkness. It comes with the Risen Lord on Easter! As one African American preacher put it, "it's now Friday but Sunday's a comin'!!!"
Pray for me as I Pray for you.
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