Life’s Mixed Bag

I was driving to my childhood home when I got the news. For months, I planned my daughter’s birthday party. The schedule set; presents bought, family en route, and the petting zoo venue booked. It was going to be a weekend of celebrating life and potential. Then my phone rang with the terrible news.

My last grandparent was dead. A sudden trip to the hospital in the morning, and by 5:21 that evening she was gone. She was a beautiful lady that always seemed to be thinking of others. Gentle and graceful, even when she didn’t know what to do. But now, on a beautiful sunny day, death intrudes as it likes to do. Thoughts of celebrating my daughter’s life turn into mourning this wonderful woman. I ached for the chance to know her longer than I did. But, we managed to sing “Happy Birthday” and began grieving.

Life is a mixed bag. This side of Genesis 3, death intrudes on us with impunity and total disregard. Living in the “meantime” of Genesis 3 and Revelation 21, we are forced to stretch ourselves in between the tension of hope and current reality. We hope for the coming of Jesus and His final reconciliation, but toil under the threat of suffering and decay. Both are true. Each standing beside the other in the proverbial flowerbed of this life.

There is both life and death. Joy and sorrow. Song and lament. Laughter and weeping. Dancing and emotional breakdown. Peace and war. Mending and breaking. Our days are full of beauty and decay. Each morning hints at the promise of Jesus’ return being fulfilled; just as the days remind us of the power death is still allowed to exercise.

At the funeral, the pastor said a beautiful line: “There will be a day when “Goodbye” is a useless word in our vocabulary.” What an inspiring thought. There will come a time when we don’t give “last regards” then pay our “final respects”. Instead, our conversations will span eternity as we feast together. We will be in the eternal presence of Jesus. Peace and community won’t be interrupted or broken. Death will be no more, and tears are wiped away.

But until then, we grieve and laugh. Sing and cry. Celebrate and lament. Witness babies take their first breath as others take their last. Life is a mixed bag of goodness and sorrow. There will come a day when we won’t be able to find a container big enough to hold all the joy and peace we have. But until then, we are left holding this mixed bag that seems to take more than it gives. But the story isn’t over yet.

Image credit: http://rzim.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/shutterstock_284942657_opt.jpg