Death and the suddenness of eternity

I’ve been thinking of a few things. I was going to try writing this entry earlier, but decided I’d wait until after I got back from the funeral I attended this afternoon at Auburn.

I’ve been following the news with some interest these last few days, curious of the outcome concerning the coal mine accident in West Virginia, and how disappointing that must be for the 12 families or so that lost all their loved ones in that tragedy.

For some not aware or following the news, a few days ago, about 13 men were trapped when a coal mine collapsed after an explosion--if I understand correctly (I’m writing this entry without internet windows open to reference the articles I read). Last night a miscommunication happened and the families were told all but one person had survived, but apparently that was false and only one died. The thing that grips me is how many of these family members were to be found in a church praying and singing songs with a pastor while believing the best and that all the men who’d been missing for nearly 41 hours had survived and would be found alive.

I can only imagine how horrific it must have been for each of those individuals trapped in the mine. I read that they each only had an hour of oxygen that could be used in their oxygen masks, and that they would not possibly survive when their air supply ran out. I fail to recall exactly what the miscommunication was that happened, but it must have been just as horrifying to the family to find out the good news they had been given was in fact false and the opposite had happened--instead of the news that only one person had died, only one person had survived.

The statement I read that sent chills through me was one woman, upon hearing the news stating “there is no Lord!” after spending all that time presumably thanking Him when she thought her loved one (I think husband) was alive and not dead. It hurt to read someone blame God for their loss, but I understand this is a very real pain in such a time of emotional roller coasters like this incident. I’ve said recently how it grieves me when Christians are pessimistic, but I also would give leeway to someone who just lost their husband. But I also can’t stand the ability we all have to only trust Him when the going is easy.
I’m not going to slam any of those wives for their faith. No sir. I’m just contemplating the situation I’ve been following, because coinciding with it was the death of a neighbor here in Peterborough.

I’d delivered newspapers to the Wiggins, an older couple who lived up the street from me, for about 5 years in the mid 1990s. Halsey was well known in the neighborhood for the tall old fashion bike he’d ride around in during summertime, and as well as the back yard full of all sorts of interesting devices and belongings. It kinda reminded me of a junk yard, but was stuff he collected and was able to fix or make other things with.

In the warm weather, when I lived with my parents or was visiting them when I didn’t live there, you could almost always see Mr. Wiggins (that’s really how I knew him by) sitting on the front step having a beer and a cigarette and usually we’d wave to each other, but otherwise once I was older and no longer their paperboy I didn’t have much interaction with him other than those waves, unless we ran into each other at the convenience store or on the street or something like that.

At any rate I didn’t feel too good at all when I was leaving my parents’ house at 3 or so in the morning New Year’s Eve (I guess New Year’s Day technically) and I saw yellow police tape everywhere. I drove super slowly and prayed in the Spirit not knowing what I should pray or how, and just trusted God for safety and protection for them. I was disturbed for a while and forgot all about it until yesterday when I stopped by at Auburn and saw a hurse and several cars in the parking lot (unusual for a random weekday for there to be that many cars). I entered and asked the first person I saw in the foyer what was going on and was told they were setting up the church sanctuary for a visitation later in the night.

I got a knot in my stomach as I put two and two together in my mind realizing one of the Wiggins’ has clearly died, so I approached the article they had from yesterday’s paper on display by the entrance, and read more disappointing news—no horrifying news. Mr. Wiggins had died as a result of some kind of fire in his shed. I had more questions than answers about what all this meant. Investigators said the cause was unknown, and I didn’t recall the yard looking very drastically damaged as I drove by on New Year’s or today after the funeral on my way to my parents to say hi.

Apparently it happened early afternoon, and he was taken to the burn unit in Hamilton—a city of around half a million people two hours from where I live. He died there later that evening from his injuries—I believe they were burns. Judging from the closed casket this afternoon, I image he was burned pretty badly and that it wasn’t just smoke inhalation or that type of damage to the lungs. But it really turned my stomach just thinking about it. He was 66 years old. The church was packed, and no room in the parking lot for all the cars, but it was still sad. They lived in our neighborhood in that house for so long that a lot of people came from out of the woodwork to attend. People that knew him well or people that had some kind of acquaintance with him like myself---not very well, but he’d been a fixture in that neighborhood while I was growing up, and just his absence alone will change the makeup of Leahy’s lane. You would see him outdoors almost all the time, and now you won’t.

These incidents have all got me really thinking about eternity. Do our neighbors, co-workers, classmates, etc… have any guarantee of a tomorrow? Do we ourselves, believers or non-believers reading this? None of those coal-miners went to work that day believing they’d be crushed to death or burned alive and never see their loved ones again and suddenly be before the Lord for judgment. I don’t know if they were saved or how many, but with little warning they met before him sometime while trapped under there. Same with Halsey. He didn’t wake up on Saturday morning with any idea or awareness that that was his last day.

Are you ready to face Jesus if today was your last?