Richard Mabry: Diagnosis Death

As was the case every year at Easter, the sanctuary of the First Community Church overflowed. Faithful and occasional worshipers shared pew space as they came to celebrate this holiest of days. Pastor Matthew Kennedy had no need to follow the familiar words in his hymnal, so he let his eyes roam over the congregation as he sang.

Will and Cathy sat in their usual place, halfway forward and on the aisle. Next to them, Dora, the proud grandmother, gently rocked young David Matthew Kennedy in her arms.

Seated in the back of the sanctuary, Marcus Bell and Natalie Cook shared a hymnbook. He'd seen them a few times around town, but this was the first time they'd appeared together in church. He hoped things went well between them. They'd both been dealt disappointment and deserved a new chance for happiness.

At first he almost missed them, but at last he spotted Elena and David. He'd never get used to calling them Dr. Gardner and Dr. Merritt, so it was a good thing they'd granted him first-name license. At first Elena's attendance was spotty, but recently she had been right there beside David for every service. That boded well for the forthcoming marriage that the ring on her finger signified.

The hymn ended and so did his reverie. Time to open God's Word to the people.

"Before we consider the glorious event that we mark today, I'd like to share something that seems quite appropriate. There are many of you in this congregation today who've been in a tomb of your own, a dark and forbidding place from which there seemed to be no exit. But God, in His mercy and power, brought you forth into the light. Yet you fear for the future, because you're not certain He can or will do it again.

"Listen to these words from a very wise man: 'What God has done in the past is both a model and a promise of what He will do in the future; but He's too creative to do the same thing the same way twice.'

"Don't forget what's been done for you in the past. But always remember that there's more to come."

Matthew glanced up from his notes in time to see Elena give David a knowing look and reach for his hand. The pastor imagined he could read the young man's lips, as he leaned in toward his fiancee and whispered, "I can hardly wait to see what comes next."