Mom's Death and the Nature of Evil

I've been away from here for some time - dealing with the downward spiral and eventual death of my mother last Tuesday. My brother and I spoke at her funeral yesterday. And I have to say this experience is unlike anything I've ever been involved in.

It's not the stress - reorganizing major chunks of AT&T's information technology space was far more stressful.

It's not death itself - I've been preparing for my mom's death in one way or another since I was 8 years old.

It's not even giving that sermon at her funeral - it felt like the most natural and appropriate thing I could possibly do in the situation.

Mom was well prepared both spiritually and emotionally for her death. I'm quite proud of her handling of the whole thing. She's suffered stage 4 cancer since the summer of 2005 with as much dignity as one could ever expect given the horrors of treatment that she's gone through.

And now I believe she's taken the next step toward the resurrection, and the eventual coming kingdom of God on earth. So in and of itself, Mom's death is a really beautiful story.

Nah, I'm not shocked at any of the above.

Rather, what I am taken quite aback by is the way that evil expresses itself even in the midst of triumphs like Mom's - through those of us in the periphery, through words and actions - through the hidden thoughts and intents of the heart that are brought to the surface under this particular kind of pressure.

Father, give me strength to pursue a path of both peace and justice in this dim and dry place.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Michael, I hate to tell you, but "nah" is not a word Just leave it to me to tell you that Mom would love how you wrapped up her last couple of years that was beautiful Also, your prayer is perfect, I told Jim give Micheal some time and he will seek God's help through all this you know the scripture If God is for me who can be against me It's either true or not See ya Sheryl

Mike Aleckson said...

"I told Jim give Micheal some time"

Sheryl, leave it to me to point out that you misspelled my name. :)

Thanks for the kind words!

Karen said...

We had almost two more years with Mom. Her illness was horrible with the toxic waste treatments.
She did have great dignity and strength.... I will miss her always...
Mom's journey has come to an end...on this earth....