An Empty Collar, a Vacant Chair, and the Bridge in the Shape of a Cross

 

 

    Today is a tough day. Alani, our repurposed with purpose dog, sadly passed away due to a behavioral/mental health issue. I find myself looking at a black-and-white collar and a black-and-white leash. Nevertheless, no black-and-white dog is filling the collar. It's empty.

    Similarly, in A Christmas Carol, the ghost of Christmas Present foresees an empty chair and a vacant crutch where Tiny Tim should be. Now, we know the story. Mr. Scrooge repents of his greed and callousness toward his fellow humans. What the ghost of Christmas Present sees does not become a reality for Scrooge's actions right the wrong done in the present. Thanks to Scrooge's generosity, the Cratchett family will now have enough money to care for Tiny Tim's medical needs. Hence he will not die in the foreseeable future.

    More often than not, life, however, doesn't work like A Christmas Carol. Our repentance can indeed shape the outcome of our future. It does in many cases. Most importantly our repentance restores us to the right relationship with God (2 Peter 3:9). However, in many cases despite our repentance and our corrective actions, we are still sometimes faced with empty chairs and dogless leashes. It is part of being connected to the fallen world.  

    A long time ago, Dr. Rhoni Rader, taught me in her death and dying class at Shawnee State University that the first step to healing after a loss is to acknowledge the emptiness that comes after that person, pet, or marriage partner has left the relationship we had with them. Alani left. There is emptiness.

    Emptiness doesn't make sense. You cannot rationalize it away. That is why, as Dr. Rader taught me, you must acknowledge it. What should be there isn't. The plan that should have worked in theory, doesn't. You are left holding the bag and wondering why something didn't turn out better. We are left wondering why a dog like Alani would break down and give in to her aggression despite all the love and care she received. The relationships between her and us that should have lasted many years, lasted only 10 months.

    Take, however, a pause for a moment. Although emptiness doesn't make sense it still teaches a lesson. When we experience loss, we learn to have compassion for God, himself.  Jesus felt the loss of his relationship with the Father when he died on the cross for our sins (Matthew 27:46). He was forsaken by God. Secondly, imagine how God felt when Adam sinned. His perfect plan for walking with humanity was altered. Emptiness entered the world because death was never meant to be. Death was never supposed to get in the way of our unbroken fellowship with God. So, as St. Catherine of Siena emphasizes, Jesus had to make a bridge across time and space to fill up the void. It filled up the emptiness in our relationship with God. As she emphasizes this bridge is the cross. 

    Now a failure to accept the reality of the cross is a failure to get on the bridge spanning across time and space. It really does not make sense to be cast into outer darkness when Christ has filled up our negative space with his glorious grace.

    So I return to my earlier thought. Rejecting God's grace makes God grieve for the emptiness in his relationship with us. When we choose to live apart from Christ, we choose death. God grieves at our choice in the depth of his being (2 Peter 3:9). 

    I ask believers and non-believers alike to consider God's feelings. Non-believers should get on the bridge of faith that conquers death so that God no longer grieves for our souls. Believers should abide by faith in God's mercy. We should be thankful for his grace. This feels him with joy, knowing that his death was not in vain.  Lastly, all of us should look forward to the day when God will restore his relationship with all of creation. On that day, emptiness will be no more (Romans 8).

Blessings in Christ,

Jane Shoemaker