Alive and Well

“In the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Luke 20:37-38

We have all lost loved ones and it is a reassurance for us for sure that Jesus says irrevocably that God is God of the living. One day I will see my parents again, and my brother-in-law Jing who was very instrumental in the growth of my faith. He died of melanoma when my niece was very young. We were all very young. 

I remember the first time I saw Jing. My sisters, my mom and I attended an Easter celebration of the Catholic community I am now a part of, Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon (The Joy of the Lord). He was up on stage and part of the vibrant music ministry. One couldn’t miss him! I remember being so exhilarated, so high and happy. When my sister saw him in the same school she studied in, she gave him a big smile. He invited her to Ang Ligaya’s evangelistic Coffee House events for young people. 

Eventually when he started visiting my sister, he gave us The Joy of Discovery bible studies. When a guy starts courting someone in the family, he is usually very careful. Not Jing. He was a very dominant personality. Our bible study was not your boring bible study where the teacher goes on and on and the students nod off. We had to be very creative! I was assigned the Book of Maccabees and I made paper dolls of the mother and seven sons. While I told the story, I cut off their hands and feet with scissors and put them in a frying pan. I forget who made a shadow play and who had to enlist my father as a sound talent. Even my mother had to make some effort presenting her bible story.

When we asked Jing to help us with our Christmas performance in the small prayer group we were attending, he had us audition for him so he knew the range of our voices. That did not sit well with one of my sisters who stomped up to her room in protest. Come the day of the performance, Jing “conducted” us, and it went very well with all the different voices. My sister relented and joined us as she could hear all our practicing. 

I have very fond memories of Jing, and how he loved to matchmake, and get involved in everything. Even when he lay, weak and in pain, in his hospital bed a few days before he died, he called me over to ask me how I was doing and what was happening. He stayed in the UST Hospital for a month before he left us. People in the reception of UST thought there was a celebrity in the room because of all the visitors and flowers. 

It is wonderful to know we will all see Jing again. He composed the most beautiful praise songs! I can imagine him singing with the choirs of angels and probably bossing them around! Ha ha! Yes, he is alive and probably just as involved in our lives as he was before. He now has a beautiful grandchild and I am sure he is in fellowship with his parents and my parents, and with the saints and angels praying for him and all of us.