My first thought while waking up this morning was for this to be a good day.  Celebrating the Lord's Supper can always be uplifting for the soul.  Our entire service revolved around the themes we find in this observance.  Hymn singing included some of the grand old hymns about what the cross is all about.  Each scripture read aloud was to point us to God's wonderful grace.  Sharing a service like this could not happen often enough.  It was indeed a good day while making my way back home.  We even beat our Methodist friends out of church.  This would sadly be as good as it would get for today.

You can tell if the news is good or bad while listening to a conversation.  No one could expect how awful this information would be.  One of my former members died today.  It is not known whether it was during the night or just exactly when.  He was a young man in his twenties with a daughter who is two years old.  His parents were here upon my arrival back in 2000.  I considered his father among my best friends when they moved away.  His mother sang for us often since she has an outstanding voice.  Here is a young man just beginning to move in a positive direction in his life who leaves so many people with heartache and questions.  My chest had that feeling of being kicked right in the gut.  That did not really change through the day. I was able to talk to my old friend this afternoon about his loss.  There is absolutely no way that I can imagine those feelings.  Experience reminds me there is no way to even try.

Tonight was a good time to take another look at Psalm 73.  It is high on the personal as well as the practical range of scripture.  We are reminded how our vision on this world affects so much of who we are.  The writer begins with a wrong perspective while observing sinners seeming to get away with bad behavior.  He confesses to bitterness overtaking his heart.  Envy of others never ends well especially when its the unbelieving you consider.  Everything turns when the writer views it all from God's point of view.  He realizes just how much God is actively caring for him.  Don't get me wrong.  The sinners still seem to be prospering without judgement but now he knows God has the last word.  My suggestion is for you to take a look at the Psalm.  Our author ends with a declaration of his desire for God above anything else.  He may start in a bad place but his ending is theology at its best.

I really could not think of anything to tell my friend today other than to offer my prayers.  Letting him know of my pain will hopefully help us both.  My professional vocabulary went out the window in this time of grief.  My first task after hanging up was to go hug my son.  He probably didn't know why I did but that is fine with me.  Then it was back to the phone to call my daughter.  Hearing her voice was enough for the moment.  Real life does tend to happen at unexpected times.  Being a believer is no promise our times will avoid turbulence along the way.  This is when reaching out to God and to others becomes enough to get us through while we adapt to a new reality.  Being broken happens in our world.  Let's learn to trust God so we avoid the bitterness that tends to be a very real temptation. 

Bro. Trey