LYFE: Will you make a Difference?

The days that we are living in are filled with so much tragedy. I was reflecting today about a group of children who died of smoke inhalation from a burning apartment. I can’t help but think about hearing the people talk about the screams coming from the window of that burning apartment complex. All of them died…why? Why? Why do children have to suffer for mistakes often made by adults? Why Lord, why? Reading the commentary in the newspaper brought me to tears because I put my place in the shoes of the father of those children and I wondered what my life would mean to me had they belonged to me? The bible tells me that I brought nothing into this world and when it’s over with, I’ll take nothing with me either. Nothing material that is. Oftentimes I see a world full of people who spend the majority of the day working to acquire stuff. Working to keep up with the smiths’ and the jones’ and it really never amounts to anything at all. We get stuff and then we’re still not satisfied with life because we always want more. We want money, power, and sex and if we were to really be true to ourselves we want as much as we can get of all three. In this life we are in search of something…what? Peace in the midst of confusion. If I could just get peace even when things don’t go my way, at least my mind would be still and I’d be able to look unto the hills, which is where my help comes from. I’m just Richard. I’m not superman, although, as a leader, I’ve done a good job painting the picture like I’m all that and then some. To many of my kids, I’m a hero but to me, I’m the Clark Kent that wants to stay out of sight, out of mind and out of pocket. Why? Because deep down within, I feel so insignificant and helpless, especially when tragedy strikes with such a resounding hit!

I don’t even know that family, but I mourn as if they were my own kids. I never lived in an apartment complex to understand the close proximity of everything, but my mind takes me back to when I lived in the dormitory on my college campus. I remember how my family was my entire floor. I remember how we left our doors open and would go from room to room and talk and play games with one another. I remember how, even in the midst of camaraderie on an all-African male campus, when we got down to the essence of our being, we were all on the same side, aiming and striving for excellence…a quest in life that very few ever achieve.

With my mind going so far back, I’m remembering the bond that I had with those on my dorm floor. It’s that same bond that has me mourning over the loss of life. Life is precious and whether we are young or old, when death hits our family it comes as a mighty blow! It’s very earth shattering even if you’re in Christ! I remember the day I found out my father died, suddenly of a massive heart attack. Although I appeared calm, I was screaming on the inside for my daddy. I was screaming on the inside for the man that had become a “god” in my sight. I was screaming for my hero, I was screaming for the man that made everything work together for good because I was his son. His death, to me left me uncovered. I felt naked and alone. I struggled because in one breadth, I went from being the son, to the one that had to look after my mother and sister. I went from being the 24-year-old child to having to open my eyes and see the world for what it was and still is today, cold and heartless. I didn’t realize how good I had it with my father until he departed this journey called LYFE.

So many of us take life for granted. We don’t look at each day in the way we should, we always think in the back of our mind that we are promised a tomorrow. Well, I had to face the fact over the past few days that I can be hear today and gone in just a minute. Life is but a vapor of smoke…you see it and then it’s gone. Lord, please open my eyes to be able to understand the essence of life. Lord, please open the eyes of the generations so that we can make each day count. Because when it’s all said and done, we’re all living this life to live again. This life is training for our reigning with Christ! After this world is over and has come to an end, I’m reminded that the bible tells me that John, the revelator, saw a new heaven and a new earth. A lot of people don’t talk about it, but Jesus is coming back to set up a new kingdom here and I want to be able to say that I used my time here on earth to train for the life hereafter. I don’t want it said that I drank my time away. I don’t want it said that I smoked my time away. And I sure don’t want it said that I “sexed” my time away either. I want the generations coming behind me to be able to say that I made a difference in life. That it mattered that I was born. I want my epitaph to read:

Pastor Rich
Father, Husband, Son, Brother, and true Friend to the generations that are coming.
It mattered that I was born. 1973----