Dylan William (last name withheld for privacy reasons), born August 7, 2015. Died, August 23, 2015. A memorial service was held last Thursday in Idaho Springs. Clear Creek Neighborhood church hosted the service for Dylan's family.
I learned the night of the service that his parents were big Bob Dylan fans. Their son was actually named for him. A kind of theme emerged around one of Dylan's famous songs, "Forever Young". I am a big Bob Dylan fan as well, and it brought a smile to my face to hear this song playing.
The opening stanza goes like this: "May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true. May you always do for others, And let others do for you. May you build a ladder to the stars, And climb on every rung. May you stay forever young." Bob Dylan.
The little infant weighed less than a pound when he was born and almost two pounds when he died. A brief life like his raises all sorts of questions in our minds, most of which don't have an answer, at least not ones that make any sense right in the moment of grief.
One of the Churches great historic statements of faith says, "From all eternity and by the completely wise and holy purpose of his own will, God has freely and unchangeably ordained whatever happens."
Lots of passages from the Bible support this statement. If you are interested, check out Romans 11:33 and Ephesians 1:11 and let's talk.
In the face of an event like Dylan Ellington's brief life, I grant you this is not an easy pill to swallow. Questions about the love and goodness of God scream out of the depth of our pain. They also screamed out of the depth of King Davids pain (Psalm 13) and the prophet Jeremiah (Lamentation 3) and the apostle Paul (II Cor. 1:8-11). Most significantly they screamed out of the depths of Jesus' pain (Matt. 27:45-46).
I have come to the conclusion--and not easily I might add--that it is at precisely these moments, when we don't understand what he is up to, that God is asking us to simply trust him. Maybe that is why Jesus said to become like a little child. Children know more about trust than grown ups. Maybe that is the deeper wisdom in Bob Dylan's words, "May you stay forever young."
