The Warrior is a Child

Dad sits at the small kitchen table with his Marine ball cap covering his scattered gray hair.  His brow is furrowed, and his piercing blue eyes appear deep in thought. Slowly he adds words to a journal that increasingly makes little sense.  I asked what he was writing, and he shared that he was composing thoughts on how God likes eggs cooked.  I had just asked him how he wanted his eggs that morning; that thought was fixed in his mind.

He introduced a conversation about letter writing and shared his frustration that no one was answering his letters, not understanding that he had not written anyone for months. For the next 45 minutes, he was stuck in a loop of trying to dissect what the problem was. This is part of a routine of getting stuck in loops about twice daily as dementia slowly erodes his mind.
           
Later that afternoon, he mixed the death of his wife with the horrific Korean War. Dad sobbed as he shared about all the people dying.  Hunched over in his chair, with tears streaming down his cheeks, he noted that Satan was winning and asked, “Where was God?” He was wracked with a pain we could not touch—a bewildering battle of intense memories inside a confused fighter. It was a complete turnaround from the previous evening when he was lucid, intelligently discussed relationships, and offered wisdom and encouragement.
           
The journey of life is an amazing cycle.  We start as children with the need to be cared for and taught.  We mature and become adults, and then for some, if death is not hastened by accident or disease, we break down physically and mentally, requiring the care and help of others. But that is not the end.  In Dad’s case, the child grew to be a warrior—a decorated Marine who fought in the Korean War and a soldier in God’s army who ministered to people all his life. Now the warrior is a child—often unable to comprehend what is happening, unsure of where he is, and needing help functioning each day.  When he dies, he will be ushered into God’s glorious presence and be transformed with an eternal, perfect body and mind—gifted and outfitted for service to his King.
           
Meditation
1 Corinthians 15:51,52--Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep,
but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
 
           
Based on God’s promise, we hope to be raised incorruptibly. What an incredible graduation awaits us who follow Jesus Christ. Knowing this removes the sting of watching dementia cripple our heroes. It fills our hearts with joy that present-day suffering will be replaced by future-eternal glory! We listen for the last trumpet. But if we pass before that magnificent blast, we will still rise and be changed, and it will be wonderful. Something to think about . . . in reveration!
           
Inspiration
Earthmaker, Holy, let me now depart,
For living’s such a temporary art,
And dying is but getting dressed for God,
Our graves are merely doorways cut in sod.—Calvin Miller
 
©2023 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you want to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.     
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)