Today in rural Ontario, a ‘Service of Remembrance’ will be held for a cousin of mine. Though he suffered from Lupus, his death at 64 years old was unexpected.
I did not know my cousin well. I saw him over a few childhood summers but never in our adult lives. I do, however, stay in touch with his elderly father, my uncle. It is for him that I have sorrow, imagining the pain of losing a son in his old age. I wrote this verse for my uncle to express the contrast of blessings and grief in life. Job, an Old Testament figure, asked, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10). Moses, too, observed that life is gladness and affliction (Psalm 90:15-16). The personal references won’t be meaningful to you, but I invite you to consider the juxtaposition of joys and sorrows:
Where was God when Mark was taken?
God was in the same place He was the day Mark was born.
God was in that place when you married beautiful young Evelyn
And when God graciously brought you and Marilyn together.
God was there as you soared through infinite blue skies in the RCAF
And He was in that place the day baby Kenny and his mother survived a rough birth.
God was in that place when brother Jack arrived and then a new sister, Eleanor,
And He was there when you buried Dad, and then Mum, on the hill.
God was there when all legal charges were cleared, when the church befriended Mark,
And when Woody ministered through Mark’s last breaths.
God is with us in all times and all places. He was with Mark.
And God will be there when we joyfully reunite
With all those who believed and are forgiven in Him,
Whether belief began on a mother’s lap or was confessed on that numbered day.
By Brenda Proulx
Based on Psalm 139:7-12, Psalm 39:4 and Romans 10:9