Memorial Service For Alfred Stovall (Arystine's Son-In-Law)
This is Hard
Death comes through many doors. For some, it slips through the door marked “merciful healer” and liberates a person from pain, illness, and a worn-out body. In these cases, death makes sense; it’s easy to see how death fits naturally into the cycle of life. Any death certainly produces grief in those who survive. A natural death following a long, full life, however, tempers grief’s pain with the achievement of a life well lived and a smooth transition from one life to another.
Then there are times when death bursts through the door marked “obscene intruder.” It comes as a vicious thief who robs the victim and family of health, happiness, and much of the abundant life Christ taught was God’s intention. These deaths are untimely—suicides, accidents, murders, terminal illnesses, or stillbirths. These deaths take babies, children, young adults, and those in middle age. These deaths make no sense; they frustrate any attempts to provide tidy answers when hurting people ask why? These are the hard cases.