Loss

There was an interview with the author John Irving in the AARP magazine. The questioner asks, "You've often spoken of Dickens, Hawthorne, and Melville as influences. What appeals to you about these earlier writers?

In his answer Irving quotes Melville: "Woe to him who seeks to please rather than to appal!" Irving: "I buy that."

The interviewer asks what the Melville quote means. Irving says: It means be serious. Life hurts. Reflect what hurts. I don't mean that you can't also be funny, or have fun, but at the end of the day, stories are about what you lose.

Could he be exaggerating? Maybe not. Loss is a big part of our lives. We don't like to talk about loss; it's no fun. I attended a seminar a few years ago on grief ministry. The presenter made the point that we grieve small losses practically every day.

Each year (or each day?) I'm aware of losing youthfulness. I'm losing strength, the ability to remember, and hair.

Every time we make a decision, we lose the other options we decided against. We lose opportunities. We lose options.

Interim pastors have signed up to lose relationships. We enter into relationships that are intentionally temporary. From the very beginning we know that we will lose those relationships. It's part of the calling. It's a sacrifice we make for the kingdom of God.

All of us will lose those we love. We are mortal. That's a fact. Not a pleasant fact. John Irving was saying out loud what we don't want to hear. Life is about loss.

So much loss. Loss of innocence; divorce; retirement; unemployment; natural disasters; accidents; pets; disease; transfers; rooting for the wrong team; finishing a book.

Loss is the price of the seriousness of life. Loss is the price of love and commitment. It's the rent we pay for a meaningful life.

Christ's promise of eternal life is the promise that all losses are not ultimately lost. He came to seek and save the lost. He redeems our losses. The lost are found.