My brother died on Easter in 2008. I was on my way to pick him up for church when he called me. Though I was driving, I answered the phone.  He said I think I’m dying. I said, call an ambulance.  He did. The ambulance was already at his house when I arrived at his apartment.  I followed the ambulance to St Thomas hospital in Nashville.  I got to make eye-contact with him as they were taking him into the ER. But that was the last time I saw him.  I knew we were in trouble when the chaplain came and took me to a side room that Sunday morning.

I remember getting ready for the funeral and this passage came to mind.  I hurt with Martha when she says, “If you would have been here, my brother would not have died.” I connect because I had a lot of “what ifs.”  What if I called him earlier, or he called me earlier, or what if the last time I talked to him I would have told him…”You don’t need to miss that Dr’s appointment.  My family also had a lot of “what ifs.” I have come to dismiss all the “what ifs” and accept and believe with certainty this one thing,  ²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

I do believe this.