I am not afraid of death, for it is actually a departing to be with the Lord. But it is the dying process that proceeds the departure that troubles me. It is again a season of watching and hearing of friends passing on. It reminds me to ask, “what’s next…who’s next.”
Last week, the former Olympic boxer, George Foreman, died at 76. I remember watching him win the 1968 Olympic heavyweight championship fight in Mexico as if it was yesterday. With my birthday not too far away and my age not that distant from his, it causes me to wonder.
Having officiated the burial of a dear friend of mine two weeks ago also plays into my considerations of life and death. I have begun to filter through many names and faces of former friends in high school and seminary and realized that many of them have departed.
The dash on the gravestone between our arrival date & our departure date is a great equalizer for all of us. But I am comforted by former chaplain to the US Senate Peter Marshall who said, “When the clock strikes for me, I shall go, not one minute early, and not one minute late. Until then, there is nothing to fear.”
The Lord’s timing is perfect. He is never behind, but perfectly on time. Serving Him with you Until He comes for us. Fred | 
