We were all affected by the recent death of Dominic Laffoon, one of our own, just 18 years old, recently became an Eagle Scout, beloved by all. The shock of it, its suddenness, and the over-whelming heaviness was felt by all at worship on September 17th, and will continue for the foreseeable future. His memorial service (still pending at this writing) will continue the grieving process.
What can we say about this? It isn’t fair, but then much of life is not fair. Can we even begin to know the reasons why Dominic passed? We can know the medical reasons, but what about the spiritual reasons? People like to say “Everything happens for a reason,” and yet, do they? I don’t believe that God caused Dom’s death, except to allow it to happen. Cancer caused his death, and cancer, like all of the other evils in this world, is a direct result of our sin. And sin is the product of human free will to turn against God. So it would be more correct to say that we (humanity) caused his death.
I prefer to say, with St. Paul, that “all things work together for good, for those who are called according to [God’s] purpose” (Romans 8:28). That is to say, that as gut-wrenchingly horrible as dom’s death is, God is able and will bring some good out of it. I don’t know what it will be, and it may be many years before we perceive it, but I trust in God. In the mean time, we need to comfort one another, especially the Laffoon family. And we need to hold out the possibility of God’s redemption of this tragedy. Not that it will ever be “ok”, but that in some distant time, perhaps, we will see the goodness of God revealed through it all.
I invite you to hold on to this hope.
In Christ,
Pastor Glen