Blessed are those that Mourn

In the 2 short days of this week, I have been struck by the words of two pastors I greatly admire:  Dr. Eugene Peterson and Dr. Bill Hull.

First, I read this poem in Dr. Peterson's book, The Contemplative Pastor.  Having visited the American Southwest and walked through grief and pain with many families over the years, the words of this poem struck me in a wonderful way.  I am amazed at his ability to use images and words to describe such personal experiences.  Here's the poem he entitled "Blessed are those who mourn."

Flash floods of tears, torrents of them,
Erode cruel canyons, exposing
Long forgotten strata of life
Laid down in the peaceful decades:
A badlands beauty.  The same sun
That decorates each day with colors
From arroyos and mesas, also shows
Every scar and cut of lament.
Weeping washes the wounds clean
And leaves them to heal, which always
Takes an age or two.  No pain
Is ugly in past tense.  Under
The Mercy every hurt is a fossil
Link in the great chain of becoming.
Pick and shovel prayers often
Turn them up in valleys of death.

So many of these words and images speak to me.  "Under the Mercy Every hurt is a fossil link in the great chain of becoming."  WOW!  Let me know what words speak to you.

Today I found on facebook a link to a wonderful article by the long time baptist pastor/scholar Dr. Bill Hull.  I knew Dr. Hull in my days at Samford.  He was provost of the school and interim pastor at our church.  I learned to love good preaching from Dr. Hull.  He's one of the preachers I've always tried to emulated - very poorly indeed!  His commentary of the book of John is still one of my favorites.  One of the great gifts to me when I served as the director of Olympic Ministries in Birmingham in 1996 was having a meal at Dr. Hull's house in Mountain Brook.  Knowing that he knew who I was as a young minister meant a great deal.

I didn't realize Dr. Hull had been suffering from ALS for the past three years.  He wrote this article back in August.  It speaks so well on the perspective of dying from someone who has a death sentence.  Here is the article:  How Am I Doing? By Dr. Bill Hull

I have several articles like this which Dr. Hull wrote while I was at Samford, specifically aticles on death and heaven and hell.  To hear him now be vulnerable and still theological is so powerful.  I hope you will take time to scan and then read his work.  It helped me understand ALS better than any thing I've read.  It also fleshes out in a narrative personal form the same ideas and images of Peterson's - Blessed are those who mourn.  Listen as Dr. Hull expresses the same sentiment:  "I say this, not to blame ALS, but to thank ALS for making God's grace so clear and dear to me."  WOW

I am thankful God opened these words for me this week.  I'm thankful to be able to share them with you.