Dec 9th, 2020: Christmas Blessing - Know Our Certainty and Embrace It

 Why does God permit the death of children? — Quest

I was walking to my hotel in Lethbridge, a small city in Southern Alberta, I1 heard someone called out for me. He used my "Camp Name" which was given to me by my campers many years ago. "Datman! Is that you?", he yelled. I was rather amused by it because I have not heard that for a long time.

He was from Nothern Alberta when he came to the camp for the first time. He was not a very outgoing young man, so he ended up spending a bit of time on different canoe rides with me (lucky him). He was serious and had a hard time understanding humor. However, he was a very helpful camper and never say "no" to help out.

The last time I saw him was when he graduated from College and got ready to go North for employment. He was so happy to see me in Lethbridge. He asked me whether I can grab a coffee with him. So we got some take-out coffee and went for a walk. He told me that he had been thinking about getting in touch with me again. He has been struggling with something in his life and needs to talk to someone.

He and his wife have tried to have children unsuccessfully. His wife just had another miscarriage after five months of pregnancy. He has been trying to understand what it means to have faith and to trust God. He then told me he remembered a talk I gave at camp during his first camp. It was about living between the already and the not yet in coping with human pain. He told me that he has been in the twilight between them. Sometimes things are so clear, and other times they are not. "how do you cope with that?" . he asked.

I shared with him that Christmas always reminds me of the certainty I have in God's love for the world regardless of what is going on in our life. It is not about having the answer to human suffering. It is about embracing it fully and learn to rest with it. We don't have the intellectual answers for all of our problems because of our limitations. We have certainly that God has decided to enter the world in human flesh to identify with us. I encourage him to go home, love his wife as if he meets her for the first time and enjoy the quiet Christmas with her. That is what he has some control over. Leave the rest with God.

Psalm 28:7
"The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him."

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