Robin Williams, now deceased, once shared his view about how he would have lived his life if he had known what he knows now. This a reality check to call our attention to the mortality of us all, and to remind us that these bodies will only take on immortality after the corruption has taken them back to the dust from which they came.
Many of us have had great losses during the last five years and may possibly still be grieving.
One of my former students posts the passing of as many East Rome High School Gladiators as she can remember or research, and friends and family members of the deceased are very blessed by Veronica taking on that task. I realize that each of us is assigned an appointed time to die. But what I have noticed is that most of the postings are about young people whom I taught during my 31 years of teaching. What saddens me is that parents and teachers have the belief and hope that these children will be here when we are no longer around. Not so.
With Elliot being the baby-boy of the family, we never thought that, out of the seven children, he would have succumbed at this time, leaving the two oldest brothers living. Elliot showed no indication that he was sick unto death.
Some years ago, one of my friends died a strange death and the doctors could not figure out what she died from. Many possibilities were given as the cause of Julie Sue’s death. We were questioned about how much contact we had with her. Ten of us had been with her during those three days she lay dying. She was buried without the doctors knowing what the cause was. One said maybe it was bacterial meningitis. With fear in our hearts, we all went to the Floyd County Health Department and were given medication, in case we had been exposed to the bacteria.
Of course, that next Sunday morning we were all in church listening for a Word. My pastor Nim B. Russell, who is deceased now, knew what had happened. He was not preaching to us in particular, but the Father put in his spirit to say something that has remained with me to this day: All human beings need to realize that each of us has in our bodies a bacteria that could make us sick enough to die any minute.
Elliot had such a situation. Elliot, you are so missed, and especially on this day. This day, the Sabbath, was so special to you and for you. There are so many things that we allowed you to slip away without hearing us say to you. I know as you sit waiting for our arrival, feeling no more pain and no more mistreatment, what happened after you left makes no difference to you now. One thing I can say about you is, you never allowed the troubles of the world to affect how you greeted and treated people in your circle.
Your brother and I did notice that you closed your circle a little tighter and smaller as time passed. We did not question your action, but we made sure that you felt comfortable coming to our home, eating bacon that you spotted on the stove and sharing fish suppers with us. You always wanted to take the leftover fish home. We felt blessed that we made you feel comfortable enough to say, on some occasions, that you were just going to spend the night in our guest room.
You did no more or less than what Jesus did when his end was nearing. When Jesus realized that he had to drink from the bitter cup, he narrowed his circle to only a few. He did not allow all 12 of his Disciples to be with him when he needed to pray and cleanse himself of all earthly desires and needs. You left us on the 19th. When we tried to walk your last mile by examining the place where you succumbed, we saw something that made us happy and sad at the same time.
Many of us get up and pray every morning, but most of us do not write our prayers down. When we saw your prayers written out in longhand, your brother and I got really excited and joyful. After reading your prayer written and shared with God on the morning of the 18th, we felt the comfort of knowing that whatever was happening in your body on the 19th was covered in the prayer that you wrote the day before.
You would not be surprised at the number of people whose lives you touched because that was the name of your life’s plan. You ministered to all of us by sharing joy and laughter. No matter where you traveled, you wanted people to be happy about the little things as well as the big things. You are so missed by your friends and family, but we know that you are resting in His arms.
L. Stevenson, one of your former teachers, stated that her eyes fill with tears when she realizes that you are no longer on this side of the sun with us. She spoke of how you were the live-wire in her class and kept them all filled with laughter. She was so blessed to know that you went on to become an outstanding teacher.
As Robin Williams said, just remember none of us have very long on this earth. Life is fleeting. When you start to worry about the future and get distressed and overwhelmed, he suggested that you cast your eyes to the summer sky and bask in all the wonderful memories and behold the beauty that they bring. Don’t worry so much. Don’t be so hard on yourselves. What we must remember in this life that our worries end where our faith begins.