In the summer of 1993 I lost my sight. In less than 2 days my life was turned upside down, and everything about me changed. Upon my release from the hospital I gravitated towards one specific individual. All of my family loved me and supported me through that time, but my Uncle Ronnie was a little different. I knew that he understood what I was going through, since he was paralyzed at the age of 18 due to a mining accident. We had developed a unique bond that only people who have experienced sudden blindness, deafness, or paralyzation can understand. Ronnie and I never spoke about this unique bond, but we both knew it was there.
As is the case with many people, my Uncle Ronnie inspired me to never give up and to never feel sorry for myself. He demonstrated for me that disability truly does not equal inability. Through all of his issues he never lost his positive attitude. He never gave up hope, and he never felt sorry for himself. Ronnie will never know how much he indirectly influenced my life.
As our family grieves I am reminded of Paul’s words to the church in Thessalonica:
But we do not want you to be uninformed brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again,. Even so, through Jesus God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from Heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air., and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
In this passage, Paul reminds us that we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We have hope that this is not the end. We have hope that there is something bigger worth living for, and there is something after this life. My Uncle Ronnie is more alive now than he has ever been. What excites me, and gives me hope is knowing that one day I will see my Uncle Ronnie running into the arms of Jesus.