By Brandon C. Williams
The Post Newspaper Editor
Brad Lyons and Shaun Gatson were alive on Friday morning. In a span of about 12 hours, God called each of them Home.
You see, Brad was my cousin, a smart and valiant warrior who was born with physical and mental shortcomings yet made the most of his 42 years on this temporary stop we call life. Shaun was the sister of my brother-in-law, which essentially made her my little sister, which I always referred to her as. Sadly, she leaves behind a 17-year-old daughter, who had the tragic assignment of finding her mother, calling 911 and doing everything she could to bring her mother back to life.
Painful and soul-numbing as they are, this weekend is a reminder that death comes to all of us. There will be a moment in time where someone will say words about me in past tense. None of us can escape death. Like taxes and unpredictable Texas weather, our physical selves will expire into the next chapter of our eternal path.
Death always has a way of forcing us of taking deeper stock into our current standing. So much of my late Saturday night was filled with questions I might not have asked 36 hours earlier. What is my purpose? Am I doing what God wants me to do? Should I really be drinking a coke and eating a Snicker bar at 3:00am were some of the questions I have been forced to ask myself, yet there is one question, one word that I feel I cannot approach.
Why?
March 10 will mark four years since my Mom left this earth. My 51st birthday will also mark one year since the woman I envisioned to be my forever took a nap and never woke up. In those cases, and with Brad and Shaun, I have never asked why. Why? It’s not for me to play Monday Morning Quarterback with God. Who I am to second-guess the Maker and Creator of the Universe and the one power who holds my next breath and motion in His hands. Not even the journalist in me has found the boldness to step up and ask, “Why Brad? Why Shaun? Why Mom? Why Bree?”
Anytime I have felt compelled to go There, I go to scripture and seek an answer. This weekend led me to 1 Corinthians 2:9 which tells us “However, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those — who love Him.’”
This is God’s way of telling me that the common bond all four of them have is a love of Him. This is God’s way of telling me that while you will miss them physically and that while the pain will endure, know that you will see them again, only this time, you will see them perfectly. Brad and Shaun will not be ill, nor will your Mom and Bree have heart conditions.
I leave you with this: God does not want any of us — you, me, those listening online and whoever ends up hearing this — to live in fear or defeat. No, God wants us to live boldly and without regret because there is a confidence in knowing we belong to Jesus, who defeated death when he died on the cross and rose from the grave.
Philippians 1:21 says “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Brad and Shaun have gained, and while the human side of us feels grief, the spiritual side of us should take the time to celebrate the victory these two gained on Friday night and Saturday morning.
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father: Death is hard on us because we are human. Naturally, we feel the loss and the void created by the departure of a loved one. In the midst of sorrow comes a sense of joy in knowing our loved ones are victorious and have won the greatest prize of all: eternity with You. Let those of us left behind fight off the tears and heartache and rejoice the good news that they are where we continue each day striving to reach.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You Both. Our hearts feel lighter without you.
