Though it seemed to happen quickly, his death was not tragic.
I say this because my grandpa lived a long, rich life, and he followed Jesus faithfully. He loved nine children and one woman (for 68 years!) He ran his business with integrity and was a respected member of his community. He served with the Gideons for many years, working to get scripture into the hands of people who otherwise may never have laid eyes on a copy. He taught his kids and grandkids and great-grandkids to love and fear the Lord. He had no undone business here, and his heart was ready to come face-to-face with his Savior. He finished well.
My grandpa was 89 years old and his health had been declining for the last few months, so his passing did not really come as a shock. But while we were probably all as "ready" as folks can be to let go of someone whom they love very much, it is still painful.
Why?
How can we feel so blindsided by something we know is so inevitable? We spend our whole lives with the full knowledge that we - and all the ones we hold most dear - will eventually be gone. But we don't want to say goodbye, and we invest the best of our resources to delay doing so. If we could have it our way, we'd all live forever, and it doesn't matter how long we have to see the end coming, it still hits us like a ton of bricks in the long run.
But, why?
The primary reason I can think of for this is that we simply weren't designed to deal with death. Our hearts and minds and souls were not made know to the "end" of the hearts and minds and souls whom we love. It was never part of the plan and so we never get used to it. We're not supposed to get used to it because that foreign, forlorn ache we feel in the face of death is part of our DNA that reminds us where we came from. God has "set eternity in the hearts of men." We were created to live forever and this is why we long for it so.
In Young Life, one of our tag-lines is "You Were Made for This." The phrase sort of takes on multiple meanings, but primarily it is rooted in the idea that our mission is to introduce adolescents to Jesus...to Life & Light...to the only who can rescue us from the dominion of darkness, the curse of death. We were made to know Jesus. We were made to live forever.
My grandpa's faith is now sight and I can't help but wonder if on Tuesday night, when he left this beautiful (but broken) place and finally arrived home, he said to himself, "Now this...this is what I was made for."
