Greetings:
It's funny how a date in our lives sticks with us years and years later.
Today is that date in my life – August 23.
The year was 1958 – 59 years ago.
I was a five-year-old adopted kid, who was learning to be a part of my 'new' family in a small town in southern Indiana. I had been with my family since I was babe, about six weeks old.
My exact memory of that particular date is a bit fuzzy in my mind – years have a way of doing that – but the impact of what happened on that day lives on in my life and through prayer and study of God's Word have come to understand the sting of death much better.
On that day, my dad passed away – the victim of a heart attack at the age of 47.
The life of my mother changed that day, as well as my life, the only son of this very special couple, also changed.
My particular memory of just who my Dad was is not vivid. It was a long time ago.
I am told, he was very good athlete – especially in basketball.
I am am told, he was a kind, hardworking man, who loved his country and volunteered to serve in the United States Army during World War II. He was a religious man devoted to the Catholic Church, who went to Mass on Sunday and who wore a St. Christopher medal – which I still have –– around his neck for protection during his combat duty in New Guinea and the Philippines.
I know he and my mother, who is also now deceased, decided late in life to adopt a son, their only child.
As I grew older, I've often thought about the 'what-ifs', what if my Dad hadn't died.
I don't say that to complain or murmur about the way things turned out, but there is a void there that I don't think you can understand unless you've gone through it.
But those 'what-if' thoughts have been in my thinking pattern from time to time.
I'm sure I missed out on some things that two-parent kids experience in the process of growing, but my mother – one of the strongest persons I know even though she stood just over 5-feet tall and weighed a few pounds over 100. She was a trooper, who took up the parenting reins alone, making sure I had everything I needed and wanted in most cases.
As a young teen, I remember being angry when the other guys in my class would talk about doing things their their Dads – like hunting and fishing and learning about tools and working with wood.
I became heavily involved in Boy Scouts, which was a good outlet for me to be mentored and learn many of the things that my Dad surely would have taught me.
But there was a void.
Since 1988, I have been searching for my biological parents, possible siblings and any relatives. I have done the DNA test through Ancestry in recent weeks and have talked with and corresponded with several cousins, who were identified through DNA matches, which is exciting. The search goes on to find info about my biological family. I was born in 1953 at St. Elizabeth's Home for unwed mothers in Indianapolis, IN. Having a baby out of wedlock 60 plus years ago was something of a shame. The Catholic Church, which operates the home, has my birth records sealed up tight. I pray someday I know the truth.
I say all of this to say, this day still stands out in my memory as a day that is special, but death has a new meaning since I've come to know Christ.
I hope and pray that my Dad knew Christ and had accepted Christ as his personal Savior before his time on this earth ended. I don't have any way of knowing that and that is probably the toughest part of this all for me to accept and understand.
Once we breathe or last breath, it's too late to decide then to follow Jesus.
Though the inscription on many tomb stones often reads "Rest in Peace," but the truth of the matter is that most people do not welcome the peaceful rest of the grave. They would rather be alive and productive. Thus, it is not surprising that the subject of death and what happens after our death always has been a matter of intense concern and speculation. After all, the death rate is still one per person.
In the Old Testament there many references to death found in the poetic or wisdom books like Psalms, Job, and Ecclesiastes. In the New Testament the view of death comes from the perspective of Christ’s victory over death.
Through His victory over death on the cross, Christ has neutralized the sting of death. He has abolished death. He has overcome the devil who had power over death. He has in His hand the keys of the kingdom of death as we read in Rev 1:18). He is the head of a new humanity as the first-born from the dead (Col 1:18).
And very importantly, He causes believers to be born anew – born again – to a living hope through His resurrection from the dead as we read in 1 Pet 1:3.
Christ’s victory over death affects the believer’s understanding of physical, spiritual, and eternal death. The believer can face physical death with the confidence that Christ has swallowed up death in victory and will awaken the sleeping saints at His coming.
Believers who were spiritually "dead through trespasses and sins" have been regenerated into a new life in Christ as we read in Ephesians 4:24.
Here's the deal and the fact of the matter, unbelievers who remain spiritually dead throughout their lives and do not accept Christ’s provision for their salvation (John 3:16), on the Day of Judgment will experience the second death that we read about in Revelation 20:6; 21:8. This is the final, eternal death from which there is no return.
Now if that doesn't get your attention and make you think and act, then you better check your pulse, because you are dead already.
I have no doubt that my Dad loved God, my mother and I. That is a comfort.
But did he love and follow Jesus.? Had he accepted Christ? That's an unknown that I can't answer.
God knows.
I pray I'll get to see my Dad again in heaven. There's a lot of catching up that we have to do.
Be blessed.
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