I have felt so many emotions this week, many highs and lows. Our week began with a baby dying at just three days old. The family had the baby wrapped in a cloth, lying on a table. Children swatted flies away. He had a name. He was a beautiful baby boy. I cried.
We encouraged the family, a family of new believers, we prayed for them, and we sang "Amazing Grace." It was hard to cry and sing so I cried and mouthed the words when I couldn’t sing.
I have now seen two dead bodies – each looking only as if they were sleeping. This baby did not know his own name, nor his parents or sisters. It reminded me of the funeral of the older man during our weekend ministry. Both created by God. One lived to be three days old, the other lived to be seventy years. I know that little baby is in heaven with the older man. Maybe they know each other. Another reminder of death. Another reminder of Christ’s victory.
Why an innocent baby? Why am I okay with the death of an elderly person more than the death of anyone who lived less life? Why do I question the death of a baby more than the death of the elderly? A young baby will be in heaven but what about the elderly? What about the adults, young adults, and teens? Did they know about Jesus?
Life is precious. God can give and He can take away. If He gives, He is still God. If He takes away, He is still God. And He is good, holy, and perfect.
A baby, proof of some of God’s most intricate creation. A signature of His handiwork, His craftsmanship, His love, His affection. It broke my heart.
Death had a hold on me some time ago but Jesus shattered my heart, pierced my soul, and saved my life. The chains no longer fit me and never will have a hold on me. He broke the old and built the new, the chains are powerless. But many cannot say the same. Some do not know. Two funerals in the Philippines. There is bondage in Catholicism, culture, society. Bondage to sin. Indifference to sin, comfort in culture. Bondage to death. Their chains still fit. I mourned. I cried. But I know that my God is good. He has a plan and purpose beyond my understanding. Who else in this community will see the baby in heaven one day?
-Tatum
AOT Participant