Hey Ben, How's Ben?

The title of this post is the greeting that I heard weekly throughout my tenure at Pasadena A/G church. It came from a dignified man named Elzie Upton. Elzie was elderly and walked slowly as he came into the church each week, but he always had a genuine smile. And though his hands were not as strong as they were as a younger man, his handshake was sincere. He was a delight to pastor, and the recipient of the love that comes from being part of the body of Christ.

He would sometimes walk the aisle to receive prayer and when he got to the front he would sit on the front row. Deacons would go and sit with him to pray. When he couldn't make the walk to the front, deacons and others would gather around him at the seat he had chosen, and pray for him there. In that way he was a beautiful illustration that in the body of Christ there are parts of strength and parts of weakness, and we are not a whole body without both. Perhaps what stands out in the memories I have is simply the faith that drove him to walk those twenty or thirty steps on Sundays even when it was difficult. He certainly could have just stayed in the pew, could have just prayed quietly from his heart to Jesus for the healing that he needed, but instead faith in the One proved diligent in his walk to the front.

It is easy to paint pictures in our minds of what it must be like to enter heaven, to be absent from our body and present with the Lord, and though they're not perfect representations I believe they help us to mourn and cope when we lose a friend, for we don't mourn like those who have no hope. I suppose I prefer to see brother Elzie standing erect and dignified, strong without his cane, taking steps to his Savior, the author and finisher of his faith. The painful steps on earth a forgettable past in light of his eternal future.

Brother Elzie passed away last night. Please pray for his widow Edna and his family.

--Ben