On the Passing Away

Sept 17th, 1948 – Dec. 11 2009.
We shouldn’t suffer Del’s life to be reduced to that tiny “dash” between dates. His passing was quite sudden and that certainly never makes it any easier. He turned 61 just a few months back and once said that he planned to live to a hundred. Well, he will; for after the stars have grown cold, he will still be singing in the choir just as he did here. Only with a better choir director (sorry Ted). Shocking as it is, we know it will come one day to everyone, but it this time it comes along and knocks the wind out of you and you don’t know which is worse, the fact that he died alone or that he lived alone. Either way, he isn’t alone now.

Greg Rose, Steve Ray and a few others said a few words last night at the memorial. Dennis Folds spoke well, as usual.
Greg noted that once, while he and Dave A. were chatting about some of life’s harder points one day, Del came up and set Dave straight about life, the Lord and love. Greg said he thought that Del was an angel in disguise and Dave jokingly shot back in his thick Aussie accent, “Yah, but it’s a really good disguise.” So, last night at the service Greg spoke about what lay under that disguise. He noted that Del was a truly humble man, and that that was very rare. You are either humble or not and, if like CS Lewis said, one tries to make themselves humble, they just become sneaky. But Del was truly humble, able to laugh at himself and enjoy the most in life because of his rock solid faith, in the Rock of Faith. Probably the best eulogy I’ve ever heard. Steve, Alice, Alan and Miki also gave incredible tributes to the man we all knew and whose passing filled the (rather large) sanctuary at Tokyo Baptist to overflowing.

Even though when we die we are told we won’t taste it (perhaps it will be like the shedding of a skin – literally), we obviously experience horrible loss when others die. Sad and heart-wrenching as that is, I think that there is a part of that cup which we are meant to drink, a cup full of grief. It is a cup that our Lord drank on our behalf and as we are called to know Him and love Him, maybe He asks that we taste a little of that draught as well. We are to know Him with our whole hearts, and perhaps that means also the pain caused Him by Adam’s sin, which leads to separation from God and death. Adam’s sin literally killed the Son of God, and I think God wants us to experience, in the least possible way, what it is our rebellion cost Him. As Israel had to suffer slavery before they knew what Jubilee meant, so the grief that death brings bequeaths a knowledge of God that gives real meaning to the Joy of His Salvation.

Never so much as in death do we reflect on life. I don’t think it should be that way, certainly.
Del lived well, was insanely (and inspiringly) happy, showed unswerving faith and loved (loves) Jesus. I cannot imagine a better way to live, and still live, he does.