Life is Fragile- Hug Your Loved Ones

Earlier this evening I received word that the early-20s son of one of my pastoral colleagues in our denomination died earlier today. No one knows what happened or why at this point.

When the email came from our church offices- district and national- it was like getting hit in the stomach. I was overwhelmed and could only mutter "Oh no!" Our Moravian denomination is small. We could easily get an email like this from anywhere in the world- and we might very well know someone who knows the person. But here in the United States we are so tightly connected that these things are not some distant event. They hit home.

He had the world by the tail. Early 20s, a year out of college. He was a go-getter, a strong and powerful young man. He came from a family of strong and powerful people who have done much to make this world a better place.

But life. It is so fragile. So so so fragile. The phone lines in the Moravian world are buzzing tonight looking for support, looking to give support.

And we are all in prayer. Prayer for strength, prayer for support, prayer simply to be held in God's loving embrace.

I called a close friend and we talked. I called my daughter to let her know. But it was more than to talk. It was simply to connect. Community- family of choice and faith- is so real and so powerful. I don't know how people can live without it. Yes, I realize that is a value decision on my part. But I can no more survive without it than I can survive with food and water.

Right after I heard the news I had iTunes DJ shuffling songs. The first song that came up was by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. It says it all so well- the need and the promise:

"Let not your heart be troubled,"
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fears:
Though by the path He leadeth
But one step I may see:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.