Easter Season 2016 –
A Personal Story
“Jesus came and
stood among them” (John 20: 19b).
The Easter Season
reminds me how unmistakably God makes his presence felt especially in
time of need. In illness, disappointment, hurt, uncertainty, loss of
friends or family; in fact in all life's difficulties, as in our
joys. In the regular Easter gospel readings we see how Jesus made
himself 'present' to his Disciples and others close to him in
miraculous ways after his Resurrection. I have a vivid memory of an
occasion when the Presence of the Lord was unmistakable.
Miraculously, too, I think.
I was nine years old
when my father died. I was awakened early one morning by our Pastor's
wife to be told the devastating news. During the night Dad had
suffered a heart attack whilst bicycling to start his shift at the
local Power Station. “Daddy”, she informed me in her quiet way,
“has gone to be with Jesus”.
What happened after
that was a little more confusing as people, some strangers but mostly
relatives and friends, began arriving at our home to offer their
consolations. Not unusually, my parent's conversations
were couched in religious terms, which I didn't always follow. However, young as I was, I did sense somehow God's
'presence' at that time. It was a very real experience which I have
never forgotten.
One phrase I
remembered from overhearing the adults talking, and no doubt in their
prayers too, came from the Psalms (KJV 116: 15, a favorite portion): “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death
of his saints”. I have returned to that verse on many occasions
over the years. I don't know whether my father was a 'saint' – many
seemed to think so – but it is a Psalm-verse familiar to many
from the Psalter.
However one wants to
understand such an odd statement, one thing remains clear: the
assurance that God watches over each and every one of us continually
and each soul is “precious”; of inestimable
value to our creator. One interpretation of "precious" suggests "death is too costly". In death, as in life, “absent from the body,
present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5: 8), another verse sometimes used in the Church's liturgy for funeral services.
I accepted that my father was safe
“in the keeping of the Lord”, but more importantly, our
Heavenly Father, God, was truly present to our family then, as so
often since. Dad died many years ago – more than 70 in fact –
but for me it might have been yesterday. As the Easter season
reminds us, the sense of God's presence is truly a miracle!
