“God is Good”

We have been through a lot this past week as a community.

The feuds are still raging (silently and unbeknownst to many people) and hearts were broken by the tragic shooting – July 8 in Elizabethtown.

Some don’t want us to report on it. Some don’t want to remember that at one time there was a happy marriage, it lasted 24 years and that there were two family bloodlines involved in the very real struggle that ended abruptly.

It’s hard, as a journalist to know just what to say when there are so many experts in the community that have all the answers and all the solutions.

Thank God for a man like Bladen County Commissioner and Pastor Cameron McGill who spoke at Aaron Daine Smith’s funeral service last week. He seemed to know just what to say and how to say it in spite of the fact that his heart was breaking right along with the rest of us in the community.

His sense of caution in his words along with his candor made people laugh and also brought tears to many eyes. One of the most striking things he said was what he began with.

“I didn’t have July 13 or this funeral on my calendar,” he said. “Nobody in this room had this date penciled in on their calendar for this service. Daine Smith didn’t have the date on his calendar. But God, He had it on His calendar.”

In His infinite wisdom – He didn’t ordain it or cause it, but he knew it was coming and his plan included the sending of His angels to transport one of His own to a place of eternal safety in a time of crisis.

I think it was John Lennon who said, “Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.”

McGill was all about being about His Father’s business that day. In that short but powerful eulogy and words of encouragement on that warm, overcast Sunday afternoon in Bladenboro – he had the daunting task of trying to calm wounded spirits, help people navigate a very dark path without explanation and give people hope in the midst of extreme despair.

He actually spoke the words of Jesus that offered the best explanation for the best answer to the question, “What do we do now?” It was best served in such a time as this. “Blessed are those who mourn (grieve) for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”

Going forward it is OK to grieve and after that process, if you can find it in your heart for forgiveness, then, that too is between you and a very personal God to help Him rid you of a toxic pain that you didn’t ask for – nor did you cause. But nevertheless – it came.

McGill put forth a few stories of Daine Smith. One in particular was how the man had the uncanny ability to make everyone around him feel as though they were his best friend. A “gentle” man, he said and to his sons, speaking directly to them, he said. You are just like him. Maybe not in the way they sounded, but in that quiet, gentle demeanor that was instilled by their father.

He also told the story of a $6,000 bill for some heating and air conditioning work that was done for the church that McGill pastors in White Lake. He admitted that it’s always a challenge to open a bill that would have to be paid. He opened the envelope, carefully looked at the bill and then called Smith to find out what the final cost would be.

Daine Smith said, “It’s paid in full.”

This story and others caused many to reflect on the generosity that had been given to them by Smith in much the same manner and stamped with a Daine Smith favorite tagline… “God is good.”

The suddenness of the situation afforded McGill the opportunity to ask all of us sitting there, the question about how soon would the sudden conclusion come in our own lives – and no matter what we thought of ourselves or what others thought of us – our redeemer had already come and the bills for our sins were paid in full.

Some may have made new or renewed commitments that day as reflection and introspection came as we all looked deep inside. I think it would have put that familiar smile on the face of Daine Smith as word got back to him – it was at your funeral service and because of your heart – I gave mine.

As you are busy making other plans today and what events in this life will shake you to your core? And more importantly, will you be ready?

As a community we can be grateful for men like Daine Smith, Cameron McGill, Dale Hester and so many others. Deep and strong threads running through our life’s tapestry and helping us all tell the story of real life and how we get through it.

And we will… get through it.