No father should have to bury his child.

We received news that my colleague's son - Christopher age 11 - passed away.
His son was diagnosed with leukemia or some tumor in the spine (one led to the other) 2 years ago.

Shattered, the family moved his son to be treated in Singapore. He seemed to make steady progress, and moved back to Jakarta half a year ago, and even attending school. Then it went downhill very quickly, a fever, vomiting, hospital, ICU, then sadly passing away - all within 24 hours.

We visited the wake yesterday. There, lying in the casket was his favorite car models, one just purchased a few days back, and half completed. With my mom's wake/funeral still vivid, having been about 2 years ago, it was familiar, and yet, so different. It was heart wrenching. I sat, and couldn't imagine what it is like to have to lose a child. I've accepted that one day, I'll have to "bury my folks". It's a "natural" order of things. But having to bury your own son (or daughter) - every part of me shouts out that it unfair, unnatural and wrong.

What a reminder that we live in a fallen world. We live in a world marred by sin, and with sin. We were not created to live as such. It is unnatural. God created us to live in a perfect world, a paradise with us ruling the world with God as our God. And yet, we decided that we know how to run our lives, better than God knows how we should live, and we know how that turned out....

But we do not live in without hope. God doesn't leave us in our own muck of sin. Despite our own sin, our own rebellion against him, God, so loved the world, that He sent his own Son into this sin-filled world, a world of injustice, unnatural deaths, a world that is wrong - to die on the cross - to pay the price of our sin, and to remove that barrier between God and us.

And because Jesus rose from the dead, he defeated death, our final enemy, and promises us hope - a hope when we can be in the presence of God again, a world that is "right".

Christopher, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to know you. But despite your short years, I think you've fought the fight, and ran the race. You got there faster than the rest of us, and now waiting at the right side of Jesus. No more suffering, no more tears.

My prayer is for the family remaining, now having to grief, and deal with the loss. I cannot say anything that will erase the pain. But hope awaits. 

Revelation 21:1-4

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”