August 22, 2017

Nothing Can Compare

Total Eclipse

Nothing can compare to the love of a father. On August 21, 2017, the moon’s shadow passed over the United States of America, coast to coast; from Oregon in the west to South Carolina in the east. An event like this had not occurred since 1918.

Hence, I could have observed the eclipse from my home. Instead, I decided to drive, with my 15-year-old son, about 20 miles north to an area that would provide a better view of the event.

The total eclipse of the sun by the moon was going to last only a few seconds over my home. Hence, that is why I went north where the eclipse would last over two minutes. I was not disappointed; the view was spectacular. My son thought it was worth the drive as well. I was able to snap some photos of the event with my cellphone. After the event, it gave me pause to reflect on some of the wonderful things I have seen in my life. Where would this rank?

Here is a shortlist of some fantastic things I have seen: a woman looked into my eyes and said, “I do.” I have watched the birth of all three of my children, I have baptized them by my own hands, and they became my sister and brothers in Christ. I have held my wife’s hand as we watched the sunrise over St. Paul’s Bay after sprinkling our daughter’s ashes there. I have seen the joy of new believers as they were “raised from the dead” to a new life in Christ.

I have stood on the tallest mountain Germany, swam in the Black Sea, taking a midnight gondola ride with my family in Venice. I have watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham. Furthermore, I crossed many major rivers, the Mississippi, the Delaware, the Thames, the Ganges, and the Tigris River. Likewise, I crossed the equator and had the fishing boat I was in getting its propellor caught in a fishing net on Lake Victoria.

Sharing Christ

I have shared Christ with leaders of foreign countries and in some of the world’s darkest slums. I have even met with former Muslims who are now energetic evangelists for Christ.

Moreover, I hiked the rim of the Grand Canyon, stood on the edge of a meteorite crater, and walked through a hardened lava field from a volcano. Countless times I have witnessed the breathtaking beauty of a sunrise and the quiet stillness of sunset from various exotic and humble vistas.

There has been danger as I have watched enemies “walk-in” mortar fire on my position. In addition to this I have been shot at with guns and rockets.

I held my mother’s hand as she passed from this life into the next. I felt the outpouring of love from thousands I hardly knew at my daughter’s funeral and walked beside others in their dark moments of grief.

Yes, the total eclipse of the sun by the moon, standing in its cool shadow, was an amazing experience that ranks amongst some of the greatest things I have seen and felt. But all of these combined do not compare to the love of Christ. And anyone who has seen Christ has seen the Father.

The Father does love me. He was beside me when the news of my daughter’s death was brought into my living room in the dark hours of the night. He carried me through the long hours, days, weeks, and months. He gave me words of comfort, a spirit of strength, and put the right person at the right time in my life when I needed it most.

None of the things I have listed in my shortlist can compare to His faithfulness. If you do not know the Father, you should because nothing can compare to His love in this world.

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