A Sudden Reminder

Life is sweet and death is bitter

I have been getting together for breakfast each week with a small group of fellow business owners for the past 7 years. We talk about relationship with Jesus, tell one another stories, laugh and sometimes bear one another's burdens.

We need no reminders about where we will be Thursday morning at 6:30. It is a priority, not because of obligation, but because we like each other and it is a highpoint of our week.

This past Thursday one of our number, Gary, did not appear as he normally does. Though he rarely misses a meeting, we were aware that he had recently returned from Florida and we assumed he was merely trying to catch up with his business.

We were wrong.

On Wednesday Gary had risen early, had a quiet time with God, took his dog out for a jog around the neighborhood and returned to get ready for work. After starting the shower to let it warm up on an unseasonably cold April morning, Gary's wife, Jeanie, heard a loud thud. She called out to him, but there was no answer. She tried the door and found him collapsed, lying in front of it. Gary's teenage son ran to call 911. Jeanie began CPR.

Today, Gary lies in a hospital clinging to life via artificial means. He is unaware of his surroundings as best we can tell. The doctors say that his massive heart attack has deprived his brain of oxygen for too long. There is brain damage.

I have been to visit Gary twice over these past few days. I am profoundly saddened by the sudden losses he, his family and all his friends have experienced. Tears flow easily.

But Gary is a man of faith. God rescued him from a prison cell several years back and set his life in a new direction. I believe God can rescue him again now. But if God choses not to rescue, Gary will join Jesus in a personal celebration of resurrection during this Easter season.

As the 16th century Puritan, John Hooper, said before he was martyred for his faith:

Eternal life is MORE sweet and Eternal death is MORE bitter

Join me in prayer for Gary, his wife, two children and one grandson; and for all those who love him and whom he loves.

UPDATE 4-15-07 -- Gary went to be with Jesus Thursday evening. The men from our Thursday morning group went to see him that day after or meeting. We are profoundly saddened by this loss, but are confident that all the lives Gary has touched have been changed in some good way, and that change will live on in us and in those we touch.

Thank you for your continued prayers on behalf of Gary's family.