If you’ve been reading this blog lately, I hope you’re not annoyed with all the posts about Adam. I’m still processing his death, and trying to come to grips with the meaning of it all, and the writing helps me dig. I decided to go back through a lot of photo archives - which needed to be done anyway - and revisit some of these experiences that we had, even though they seemed brief. I suppose that’s what part of process of grieving is: recalling our shared experiences, and remembering them, for good and bad. I’ve read many books on the subject, but have rarely experienced it in person.
I find that I don’t feel sadness, at least not as the dominant emotion. My heart breaks for Ben, his brother, though - I know he loved him dearly, as brothers who were close. The fact that they both sought out the mission field says a lot about their mutual spirit, and their upbringing, no doubt.
I do feel a sense of profound earthly loss, though. I enjoyed his posts from Uganda, and am saddened about the lives that may not now be touched by his absence. I choose to believe that the Lord’s Will will be done there - He will raise another to accomplish his purposes. I had looked forward to our next meeting, where we would speak as old friends would who have shared great challenges and a few small hardships together. It’s funny - one never forgets those who one has climbed or adventured with. Those experiences are so far outside the normal realm of social experiences (sometimes with even fewer words), yet they seem to form lasting bonds that time & space hold no sway over. Reunions with such companions after years - decades even - are experienced with great joy, as if we’d only seen each other yesterday.
Those of us who share a hope in Heaven can look forward to a such reunion with those who have gone on before us - friends, ancestors, great kings and champions of faith, in whose mighty company Adam now keeps. I hope and pray that you, too, dear reader, will someday sit at our table, and remember with us.
