By The Rev. Susan Balfour

Beloved,

Greetings in Christ! I thank God for you, offering my prayers for your well-being and for the mission and ministry of our congregation. The work we do in Christ’s name is a balm to so many.

Sometimes, our bodies just don’t do right. That’s the uncomfortable truth about mortality. At some point, our bodies will stop “doing right.” That’s so often a source of distress and grief. We pride ourselves on being able and the thought of relying on some external force or support is repugnant. And I have heard so many people ask why.

So often, well-meaning people will tell us that it’s God’s will, or that God has a plan, or that God needed another angel. God doesn’t inflict infirmity—let alone death—on us. God never intends suffering or grief. God doesn’t “take” our loved ones or tether us to infirm bodies for some greater purpose. God grieves with us, just as Jesus wept at Lazarus’s tomb. Sometimes our bodies just don’t do right. That’s biology. That’s mortality. That’s the nature of a finite life that cannot possibly be infinite. And even in the grief over a life we rarely feel is long enough or hale enough, there is good news: death is not the final word.

Jesus suffered a violent and untimely death. Some will say that was God’s plan all along. I think it’s more likely that God sent Jesus to show us how life can be, and the world rejected that vision. For God, hope in humanity springs eternal. In light of the prophets, I think God was hoping that we would hear God’s truth in the words and works of Jesus, and when we crucified him, God saw fit to raise Jesus from the tomb to testify to the truth of his teachings. That resurrection promises us that the worst our mortal vulnerability subjects us to doesn’t end with death—it ends with eternal life. Even though our bodies fail us, God does not. Even when we chafe at the thought of relying upon other people, we know that our ultimate reliance is upon God. And—perhaps most important of all—our home and our rest is always and ever in our God, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, who proves to us that life doesn’t end with death. In truth, life transcends it. That’s some good news.

In Christ,

Rev. Susan