James | Home
"Jesus is the answer for the world today.
Above him there's no other.
He's the truth, the life, the way.
That was a song we used to sing when we were in the same youth group as teenagers. It was such a simple song, and it seemed to imply that there were no big questions, and yet, most us, especially as teenagers, went through things daily that could make us question that. "Jesus is the answer?" Yeah, ok. We might even have laughed at it a little bit.
And yet, I think the song intends to say that Jesus is the final answer. God's opinion is always the one that counts most.
Jesus said we would suffer in this life. He said he would also be with us through the suffering, and that we could endure.
I saw James endure a lot. He wasn't perfect. He made mistakes. He was either totally up or totally down. He endured a lot, but not perfectly.
One of the things I have taken hope and comfort in is that God loves us and does not forsake us when we fail. His love is not based on our imperfection, but in his perfection. James, like all of us, lived completely by Grace.
One of the greatest things about him personally, was he lived totally in the moment, whatever it was, good or bad. If he was up, he was happy, carefree. If he was down, it was completely down. But even so, he was fun to be around for those very reasons.
We went fishing all night a couple of times last summer when he stayed with us. We would go out all night, fish, catch nothing, but just enjoy being together, talking, checking the lines. He kept saying we needed to do it again. When he moved back to Bastrop, he kept asking me to come visit, let John, my oldest son come visit. He just wanted us to share that fun once again.
The chance for that is now gone. I - we - must wait. There is a song [Mark Heard = Treasure of the Broken Land] that says,
I thought our days were commonplace,
I thought they would number in the millions
Now there is only the aftertaste
of circumstance that can't pass this way again
I can melt the clockhands down, but only in my memory
Nobody gets the second chance to be the friend that they meant to be
I see you now and then in dreams, your voice sounds just like it used to
I believe I will hear it again, God [knows] I love you
I am convinced that nobody who ever knew James will ever forget him. He touched a lot of people, most of them I may never meet.
He was my brother, my friend, and I will always love him. I believe I will see him again.
I hope that everyone here can remember the good things about him, forgive any wrongs between you, and love the others around you before they, too, must say goodbye.