Saying Good-Bye

My Second Uncle was in a car accident Sunday night. He didn't survive it. The car overturned several times and is a write-off. His passenger crawled out with only minor injuries but he died instantly (I hope), his spinal cord severed. Mum cried buckets as they were very close. She booked a ticket with my sister not long after the news and is now already back in the home town. The funeral is tomorrow.

I remember the shocking, sobering sight of my Grandpa's face - serene and tangible, yet otherworldly as he lay in his coffin... and thought with a kind of horror that my Uncle would be in that place this Thursday. It was sudden, tragic, too early. I remember him larger than life -- garrulous, generous, so much fun to be with, so flawed...

I hadn't known my Grandpa much when I attended his funeral but I was able to relate more to this Uncle. He was the one who came and brought some comfort to our family when we were new to Australia. He was the one who bought my Grandma a mobile phone (in Malaysia), set up our Australian number on speed dial, and looked after the phone bills (Grandma calls quite often). He lead the family on expeditions and holidays. He loved jokes, was one of those who laughed the loudest and parried the fastest in verbal matches.

It seems so wrong that someone so alive could be so...absent. 'Absent' because I now have a sense now of how all live to God, even if they are no longer on this Earth. I am confident that I'll see him again in that grand reunion I look forward to. He is free now, and arrived in the very place he was truly made for - I envy him that.

Amongst the possible ponderings about our mortality, I think most of the fact that we don't belong here on this Earth. Truly, Eternity has been set in our hearts (Ecc 3:11). We think that we'll be around forever. And we will - just not in this body. We are bound for a Home away from this home.

It's a timely reminder that we were set on this Earth with a mission to accomplish - and it's not to live for ourselves. We are called to be Christ's hands and feet on this Earth to the people looking for hope and a way. In our weakness, timidity and ignorance, God sees one who can carry His glory selflessly and without fear. It is He who empowers us, and it will be He who rewards us - not just in this age, but also in the age to come. We are sojourners all in a journey both ordinary and profound - may we remember that, and be faithful to our calling.