Two of my family moved this weekend; one I knew fairly well, the other I don't recall meeting.
This particular morning started out like most Sunday mornings. I got up early to walk the track and after arriving back at the house, I showered, got dressed for church then headed upstairs for a cup of tea and some quiet time before we left. On the way to the kitchen I turned on my computer and scanned my Inbox; there was just one email. The message read: "We received word that…Rev. Bill McFadden, pastor of the Mission Christian Fellowship in Mission BC, was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident yesterday afternoon. Please pray for Bill’s wife, their extended family, and the church family in Mission as they grieve their loss."
If I ever met Bill it would have been at a church conference since we both held credentials in the same Christian fellowship. The other thing that united us was our relationship as "brother and sister through faith" in the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know the details of his death but it shook me to the core.
Rick Gratian passed away this morning. We'd arrived at church and were in the middle of the song service when his sister-in-law hurried down the aisle, tapped her mother on the shoulder then quickly and quietly led a significant contingent of the congregation out of the building. Theirs is a large family. The rest of us were sure we knew what was happening: after a nine year battle with brain cancer, Rick was going home. I wept, partly from sorrow but partly from relief that his suffering was nearly over.
They're both home now: Bill, meet Rick; Rick, this is Bill.
"Eye has not seen nor ear heard…the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
