t's Justin Day again, a day I originally set up to honor the life of my
illustrious brother Justin, who took on the world in his 17 years with a
ferocity and focus I rarely see elsewhere. It's been five years since I
started sharing the observance of this day with the rest of the world
with these customs:
http://jilliansjourneys.blogspot.com/2007/09/justin-day.html
This
year, as I'm remembering Justin, there are other things on my mind as
well. Yesterday, there was a memorial service for one of the most
beautiful women I've ever met. What made her beautiful was her
hands--Nadine Robinson did sign language for Christian Edition for many
years until disease claimed her life. She spent many years in a wheel
chair, but I still remember the first night she came into a Christian
Edition rehearsal on her own two feet, and signed "Day Star" for the
first time. My friend Nikki and I, while on the road, would often play
hookey on the entire CE concert--except for the part of it Nadine
signed, because it was so beautiful. Like my brother, she had a beautiful soul.
This
year, I'm also thinking about a child that was born into my
congregation at Alhambra about a month ago. This infant, who is deeply
beloved by his community, is still in the hospital. Like my brother, he
will be living on preciously bought borrowed time for all his days, and
I hope and pray that, like Justin, he will embrace each day for the
gift it is.
It seems like no accident of God's that Justin's
birthday would fall in October, a month that so many people spend
thinking about the spookier side of mortality. Justin's birthday, every
year, is a poignant reminder both of the power of a single life to
effect change in an amazingly short period of time and how mortality
brings that life into focus. Death, which frightens so many, did not
seem to frighten him so much (which was a part of what killed him,
actually), perhaps because he knew he barely survived his own birth. He
accepted it as a reality of life and instead of fearing it, boldly
defied it left and right, much to the consternation of his concerned
family.
Awareness of death focused his life. Not just that it
would end, but that it would someday begin again. That he will have
another birthday. It may not be October 1, and he may laugh at his
silly sister for the observances set up for it, but it will be much
better because he will be able to do whatever adrenaline-spiking crazy
thing he wants without concerned people having to rightly warn him to be
more careful.
And on the same day, Nadine will ice skate. The
baby that was born in my congregation will be free of all his medical
issues. My deaf grandfather will hear again.
For Justin Day
this year, I challenge you to take a good, long look at what scares
you. Make a list or something. Then make a list of things you really
want to do, but are scared of doing. Think about these lists. What's
holding you back? Probably the fact that on some level, you're scared
of death. Even if you don't believe in the resurrection, "We're all
gonna die," as a 7-year-old Justin used to say, so why fear it?
Celebrate Justin's birthday by celebrating your own life in following
his parting advice, "No fear, no regrets, no holding back."
