THE SORROW OF SO LONGS
How many of you enjoy saying goodbye to people you love?-dumb question, right? Hey someone has to ask 'em, so it might as well be me! Saying goodbye is one of the hardest things we do. Having said that, some of us are better at it than others.
You would think that someone in the "ministry", like myself, would be relatively good at saying goodbye since pastors and their families tend to move around more than most, but unfortunately, I'm not very good at it.
Part of my ungoodness stems from the fact that even though I've been in the ministry for twelve years now, I've only served in two ministries. Both ministries were six years in length-one in PEI, and the other here in Letete, New Brunswick.
In six years you get to know the people. In six years life brings lots of happiness, celebration, challenges, sorrow and pain. All of these life threads weave a strong cord of relationship. To say that I am connected to the people in Letete is simply stating the obvious, but hey, I'm good at doing that!
People deal with goodbyes in different ways. Some linger and savor and squeeze every second of every moment until the inevitable happens. Others become masters of the great disappearing act. I prefer the latter. Instead of saying goodbye, I would rather push the van out of the laneway and coast out of town in the middle of the night. I would much prefer the unbrave thing of fleeing from all of the emotions, tears and sad goodbyes, but such defection wouldn't be fair, or wise.
This coming Sunday (May 27th) will be my last Sunday preaching in Letete and I am looking forward to it with as much enthusiasm as I would look forward to open-heart surgery being inflicted on my person with a dirty butter knife. Actually this is worse than butter-knife surgery because my heart will be cut without the aid of anesthetic. For this operation I will be awake and able to feel every slice of the knife that separates me from the people I love.
Part of me wants to avoid this Sunday, at all cost-with all of its inevitable tears and goodbyes. Another part of me says, "experience it, enjoy it, embrace it!" How can I enjoy sadness? How can I embrace something that is so painful? Well, goodbyes, by their very nature, are a window into our souls and lives. If our goodbyes are relatively painless, than what does that say about how much we have invested in the lives of others?
The pain of goodbye is the flip side of the joy of loving. We experience the pain of goodbye in the same measure we've experienced the joy of loving. So, in a backdoor way, the pain of goodbye is the celebration of love given and received. If that's the case, then why would I, or anyone else, want to avoid it? True it hurts, but it is a good, worthy, worthwhile hurt.
I think we are wrong when we immediately want to turn sorrow off. We need to first evaluating its source, its cause, and its fruit. Somehow we think that sadness has no place in our journey to happy, happy land, but that just isn't true. Sadness can be a badge of honor. It can be the symbol of a life that has rubbed shoulders with the souls of others. Sadness, in the case of saying goodbye, is a rich experience that can help us evaluate where we are, who we are, and what's important.
I may not revel in the sorrow of goodbye, but neither will I swerve from it. Indeed parting is such sweet sorrow. It is sweet sorrow because of what it means. It is sweet sorrow because it is but a momentary sigh in an eternity of joy. You see, we, and those we love, continue to be part of the same kingdom. We have the same Lord and Master and we have the same purpose-to serve and glorify God. We also have the same destination. We will, therefore, have all of eternity to meet again. Ultimately, there are no REAL goodbyes in the Kingdom of God!
Next week we move to Toronto where Sheila and I will soon embark upon a new ministry with Keele Street Christian Church. It will be a while until we move into our new home and get reconnected with the net, so please don't abandon Graceland while you wait to see if it will ever be updated again. It will, don't worry! Until then, you have plenty to read and do in the nether regions of this site.
My family and I would appreciate your prayers, as would the congregation in Letete, as we all go through the "sorrow of so longs" and the transition to a new chapter in our lives.
If you have any comments, or questions, please e-mail me by clicking on my name at the bottom of this page. I promise to reply to your e-mail, but it may be a while until I am online again.
