Dear Rose Park,
Today is the Wednesday of Holy Week. Holy Week invites us to journey alongside Jesus from the Garden of Gethsemane to a betrayal, an arrest, a public trial, a horrid crucifixion on the cross, and eventually to a grave. Ultimately, Holy Week invites us to consider our own mortality and need for a Savior by pointing us to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
So, it seems painfully ironic that during a week that invites us to consider our own mortality, that I am reminded of one death and painfully surprised by another. April 14 is the date of my own father’s death. Regardless of the complications of our relationship, the fourteenth always brings up a myriad of emotions as my two brothers and I reminisce about our Dad. I was acutely aware of those emotions when on Sunday April 13, I was completely taken off guard by another death.
Dave Zessin was a staple in the Holland community. Not only was he an excellent attorney at Cunningham Dalman, a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, and a committed servant to Holland Public Schools and Holland Little League, he was also a dear family friend. I can remember spending holidays with the Zessin family. Dave and Jan’s three sons lined up with my two brothers and I as we all attended Holland Public Schools. I can remember playing cards in their kitchen, shooting pool in their basement, throwing the football in the backyard, and even dog-sitting for their black lab Katie while I was in seminary. So, it was a surreal moment when my two brothers and I received a text message from my Mom letting us know that Dave unexpectedly passed away on Sunday afternoon.
It’s in painful moments like these, remembering one death and being surprised by another, that I am reminded of how precious life truly is. Christ calls us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. But unfortunately, we are not promised that we will have the opportunity to love God and love neighbor with aging hearts, minds, and muscles well into our eighties or nineties. We aren’t even promised tomorrow, let alone next year or the next five years to love God and neighbor.
This is all to say, I’m encouraging you to love God and love neighbor now. Don’t let another family gathering pass by without seeking reconciliation or forgiveness with a sibling or parent. Don’t let another bedtime pass by without telling your children you love them. Don’t let another opportunity pass to serve your neighbor selflessly. And don’t let this Holy Week pass by without giving your full heart to God and celebrating with the great choir of angels that our God has pushed back the stone, conquered death, and risen from the grave.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark
Photo by Lexi Laginess on Unsplash