On the southeast corner of 10th and Trenton there is a small white cross. Apparently, it has been placed there by the family of a young man who was killed on that corner by a drunk driver. That's what the cross says -- the name of the young man and then the epitaph, "Killed by a drunk driver." You can almost see the snarl in the letters. There are usually bright flowers gently placed next to the cross. I don't know if they are real or fake. The ground seems to sacred to trespass. If they're real, then the family must change them out regularly -- they always look fresh. I guess it's their attempt to keep their son's memory alive. To say that he didn't die in vain. We remember. And if we keep remembering then his death might make sense. But it doesn't make sense. Someone decided to drink alchohol until they could no longer feel their emotional pain. Then they got into a car and drove. And now there's a mom and dad who walk around without their hearts. Like the cartoon character, Wylie E. Coyote, when he flies off the cliff and hangs in the air for a moment, his feet still running without anything underneath. He's still hanging, but you know it's just a matter of time. The rest of their lives looks a little like that. It doesn't make any sense at all. Talking about forgiveness seems almost profane.
My aunt was killed by a drunk driver. She was coming home from church on a Sunday night. Stopped in the left hand turn lane of Old Galveston Highway, her light was red. The drunk driver was coming toward her at 80 mph. He lost the yellow line as he crossed the intersection and plowed into her car, head-on. She probably didn't feel a thing. Neither did her husband and daughters, for about a year. I wouldn't know how to begin talking to them about forgiveness. I know they need to forgive; I just don't know how.
Joseph, after his brothers sold him into slavery and returned begging for food, forgave. In one of the most emotional scenes in the Bible Joseph is reunited with his little brother, Benjamin -- the only innocent one in the entire story. Joseph breaks down crying. Then he forgives. His rationale? You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. I guess that's the only way to find that place called forgiveness. It's the only address. God knows what he's doing. I sure don't, half the time. But God does. And that has to be good enough. Sometimes it takes a while to get to that address. I guess until you get there a little white cross and some flowers will have to do.
blessings,
pastor ellis
Comments