The difference that three weeks can make. Life and Death have a way of clarifying everything, and I mean everything. The things that matter come into focus. Pain can either dull the mind or sharpen it, and in my case it has done both.
What matters? What is it that we do that matters? What are we living our lives for? How are we investing the precious few moments that we have on this earth into eternity? If eternity is real, and heaven is a reality, it changes everything. Jesus lived his life this way. Paul learned to. Followers of Christ throughout the ages lived with an eternal purpose and urgency to their lives, in the recognition that they were here with a purpose, and the value of the lives they lived would be measured against their destiny.
My son David somehow grasped this truth. It is clear that in the final stage of his life it had become a living reality for him. He was created for a reason. Life is actually worth living. He was a student in a brutally hard program. He worked a real job. He had career aspirations. Yet, his life could not be contained within the boundaries of temporal pursuits. He wanted to touch lives for Jesus. He wanted to share the life that Jesus had given to him with others. And he did it in loving way that was marked with generosity and fun. He loved adventure.
Consider his final Facebook posting, hours before his death "I want to run, jump and spread life in this world..." Honestly, for a final testament, how cool is that!?
As tributes began to pour in, it became apparent to my wife and I that while we knew Dave as well as perhaps anyone on the planet, there was much yet to learn about him. While some parents have to deal with the dark specter of their son living a double life, ours was the opposite. This was a kid who was in love with Jesus and it poured out into a love of life and a love of people. Yet it was just “Dave, being Dave”. Nothing programmatic or contrived. He was without artifice or pretension. What you saw was what you got.. Wherever he went he made a difference.
Amongst other things, Dave was integrally involved in a number of paoc young adult ministries in the past year. During the summer he was part of Tehilah Monday at First Assembly in Calgary. In this area he was actively involved in the young adults groups at BGT in Hamilton and Lakemount Worship Centre in Grimsby. But he was also actively involved in LIFT Church at McMaster University as well as The Embassy at the University of Waterloo ( both of which are written up on this blogsite ), where he was a student in the Faculty of Civil Engineering. We also received a card from the University of Calgary CRC Campus Ministry soccer team, for which Dave played defence this summer in league play.
The leaders of these communities made it clear that Dave was no mere spectator. His passion for worship and prayer was inspirational. He had a huge servant heart and was constantly involved in setting up and taking down chairs and equipment. And he just loved people. He was constantly looking out for those on the margins and including them in whatever was going on. We heard this from every possible quarter.
While, due to my position, I knew a considerable amount about these ministries and something about Dave’s involvement, I really had no idea of the nature of his impact. He didn’t do it because of his dad. He did it because, as I explained to the reporter who did his story for the local paper, he loved God, he loved life and he loved people. It pretty well boils down to that. He was determined to fully live the life he had been given.
We grieve that he was taken from us so quickly. Actually, 'grief' doesn't even begin to cover it. To know him was to love him. However, we do not grieve as those without hope. Dave is very much alive and in a different and more dynamic place. Not floating on clouds somewhere but involved in God’s ultimate redemptive purposes for His creation. Count on it...
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