Reflection
Out of the shadow S
oon I’ll accompany my dad on a trip back to where he grew up in New York City. He is 73 and unsure how much longer he will be able to fly, so it’s now
or never. We will visit places I’ve never seen: the house he grew up in, the church where he was baptized and con- firmed, and his ancestors’ graves. We will also eat a lot of pizza and cheesecake. My last name isn’t common, my dad is an only child, and
my grandparents were cremated and their ashes scattered, so I’ve never seen my last name on a gravestone. It’s going to be weird. Someday in the not too distant future, I’ll see it on my dad’s grave. That will be weirder. And then someday, hopefully not for a while, my descendants will see it on mine. Good Friday is coming. It’s coming for you, it’s coming
for me, it’s coming for all of us. Cheesecake and pizza are a welcome distraction, but Good Friday casts a long shadow, and there is not a thing we can do to stop it. Lately I’ve been wondering why God didn’t choose to stop
it. Why do people die? Why didn’t Jesus make it so we don’t die? Why bother with death and resurrection when we could all just go straight to eternal life? It sure would save a lot of heartache. I’m going to ask God about that someday. I’m going to ask
God about a lot of things. I’m going to ask why my father-in- law died so young, about the Holocaust, 9/11, Columbine. I’ve got a long list of questions, but I’m not worried about the length. After all, we’ll have plenty of time. I’ll have all of eternity to ask God those big questions and to eat pizza and cheesecake with my dad, my grandparents and all those ancestors I’ve never met. In the life to come, we’re going to have all the time we could ever need. Maybe then I will look back on all of these Good Fridays
and realize that they weren’t so bad. It’s hard to imagine, but then again, so is eternal life. So is Easter. All of these things are so hard to imagine, and on a bad day they seem paltry compared to the looming certainty of Good Friday. But on a good day, they give me hope. They help me remember that life overcomes death and God’s love overcomes all. When Good Friday seems too much, I remind myself that
Easter is coming, too, and though the power of death looms large, that’s all it does. It looms and it casts a shadow, but only for a time. Easter is coming. The sun will rise, the shadows will be gone and there will be life for all.
©ISTOCK/LANCEB
By Scott Seeke
Author bio: Seeke is pastor of Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., and is a writer for print and screen. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook and at
www.scottseeke.com.
March 2016 21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52