As most of you probably know, on New Year’s Day, tragedy struck our valley in the form of the death of two snowmobilers buried in an avalanche. This is not the only tragedy so far this year but is one that hits fairly close to me. I am an avid snowmobiler and also had the privilege of being part of the group who assisted in the recovery. It is a struggle for me to know what to say about the incident and how to organize my thoughts in a logical way, so I am going to just share a couple of things on my mind relevant to that incident.
1. I say it was a privilege to be part of the recovery group because the number and quality of people who responded was impressive. Most were volunteers, a few law enforcement were paid but all were willing to do whatever they could to help out. Conditions were less than ideal for being in the backcountry that evening, but I did not hear one complaint or one comment about wanting to go home before there was clearly no longer a need for additional help. It was an honor to be associated with every person who responded to that call and I get comfort from knowing that next time if it is me needing help, there will be skilled, willing, trained, dedicated, local people sacrificing their time and efforts to do whatever they can to resolve the situation.
2. As humans, death is a part of life. The average life expectancy of Americans is close to 80 years, which means that every year more than one percent of us will die. Whether it comes expected (as in old age, terminal illness), or unexpectedly (avalanche, car wreck, heart attack), it is something that we all live with an awareness of. Though we can sometimes take steps to reduce our chance of dying, all we ever are really doing is prolonging the inevitable. I commend the two young men who died that day and their friend who survived for enjoying life doing something they loved, while knowing that there were risks and dangers involved in it.
3. God is still and always in control. His ways are not our ways. Why He allows some to perish and some to survive is not something we are privy to but He is good in spite of the bad things that happen in this life. Fewer and fewer Americans are attending church, believing the Bible and calling themselves followers of Jesus Christ but the number of people who believe does not affect truth.
I urge you to examine what the Bible has to say about life, death and Jesus Christ because it gives you the opportunity to cheat death! Not to cheat death in terms of avoiding it (unless Jesus Christ returns first), but to cheat death in terms of knowing with certainty that if you confess your sins, believe that Jesus Christ is who He said He is and that He rose from the dead. Death is merely a shedding of your current physical body and a passing of your soul and spirit from this world to the very presence of God and Jesus Christ. Thus, death for Christians becomes a thing to be celebrated, not feared.
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