Thursday, January 24, 2008

life and death

Been thinking a lot about death lately. The Sean Taylor murder a few months ago hit me hard. It's always shocking when a young person dies--we just happen to notice the celebrities--like Heath Ledger the other day. 

Yesterday I spent a little time with a gentleman who is dying of cancer--his doctors have told him he has a few weeks; maybe days. I have several friends and relatives of friends dealing with cancer...

There are times like this when I think about the fragility of life, the inevitability of death, the enormous, incomprehensible idea of eternity; and I feel pretty small.

As a pastor, I know people are looking to me with similar thoughts and struggles. And while I don't necessarily have answers, I realize how important it is to provide opportunities for people to talk and ask questions and just be together in the midst of all this.

At the same time, these thoughts cause me to turn to my children. I realize how precious each minute with them is. Tonight was boys night--my wife and daughter were out so I was home with the boys. I spent some time just holding them and loving on them. 

This Sunday we will talk about prayer at Convergence. I'm still putting my thoughts together; but I want to direct a conversation that is real and honest. I think we often try to explain prayer and how it works, and by doing so miss its power and beauty. But while the Bible says a lot about prayer, I don't think it makes it easy or maybe even possible to come up with a systematic answer of how and why to pray. 

It's late at night; and there is a lot more to it than this; but right now I'm thinking the bottom line is to simply spend time with God--apart from our requests, regardless of results or outcomes--prayer is simply listening to and spending time with God. For most of us, it always seems to turn to asking.

2 comments:

Tom said...

thanks for your thoughts Todd. some of the most meaningful witnesses are those that have been prayerful while dieing. I miss them but I've had my life changed by them. I only hope I can go in the same way.

Tim said...

enouraging.