Good Friday Reflections: Segments from my journal

segments from my journal on Good Friday.. reflecting on Dave...



What is the point of a life?..What determines its worth?....Is it duration of time? Accomplishments? Relationships? Reknown? Accumulation?


Really, now, what is it?..........

 I do know that Jesus accomplished everything he needed to accomplish by the age of 33. No sooner. No later. Into that small window God condensed eternity. On the cross and in the empty tomb, we saw the spiritual equivalent of the splitting of the atom. Think of the metaphor. At one level the "smallest" of events yielded a world transforming result.


So, Davey, How am I to evaluate the "point" of your life? By point, I mean purpose, value, significance, meaning....... . . . . . . .... What can I know? Well, your "point" cannot be known from my level any more than the 'point' of a particular piece of a jigsaw puzzle can be evaluated without seeing the bigger picture into which it fits. I do know that your life is part of something so much bigger......


I can guess, Dave, because I see the glimmers. I won't find it in the numbers who knew you or who mourn your passing. It's not in the breadth. It's in the depth. And who can judge that?


As for me, I see you everywhere. Thank you for embracing Life. You left this world as a leader, as an example that I will not tire of communicating to a world that so desperately needs examples.

On a Life LIVED!

The difference that three weeks can make. Life and Death have a way of clarifying everything, and I mean everything. The things that matter come into focus. Pain can either dull the mind or sharpen it, and in my case it has done both.

What matters? What is it that we do that matters? What are we living our lives for? How are we investing the precious few moments that we have on this earth into eternity? If eternity is real, and heaven is a reality, it changes everything. Jesus lived his life this way. Paul learned to. Followers of Christ throughout the ages lived with an eternal purpose and urgency to their lives, in the recognition that they were here with a purpose, and the value of the lives they lived would be measured against their destiny.
My son David somehow grasped this truth. It is clear that in the final stage of his life it had become a living reality for him. He was created for a reason. Life is actually worth living. He was a student in a brutally hard program. He worked a real job. He had career aspirations. Yet, his life could not be contained within the boundaries of temporal pursuits. He wanted to touch lives for Jesus. He wanted to share the life that Jesus had given to him with others. And he did it in loving way that was marked with generosity and fun. He loved adventure.

Consider his final Facebook posting, hours before his death "I want to run, jump and spread life in this world..." Honestly, for a final testament, how cool is that!?

As tributes began to pour in, it became apparent to my wife and I that while we knew Dave as well as perhaps anyone on the planet, there was much yet to learn about him. While some parents have to deal with the dark specter of their son living a double life, ours was the opposite. This was a kid who was in love with Jesus and it poured out into a love of life and a love of people. Yet it was just “Dave, being Dave”. Nothing programmatic or contrived. He was without artifice or pretension. What you saw was what you got.. Wherever he went he made a difference.

Amongst other things, Dave was integrally involved in a number of paoc young adult ministries in the past year. During the summer he was part of Tehilah Monday at First Assembly in Calgary. In this area he was actively involved in the young adults groups at BGT in Hamilton and Lakemount Worship Centre in Grimsby. But he was also actively involved in LIFT Church at McMaster University as well as The Embassy at the University of Waterloo ( both of which are written up on this blogsite ), where he was a student in the Faculty of Civil Engineering. We also received a card from the University of Calgary CRC Campus Ministry soccer team, for which Dave played defence this summer in league play.

The leaders of these communities made it clear that Dave was no mere spectator. His passion for worship and prayer was inspirational. He had a huge servant heart and was constantly involved in setting up and taking down chairs and equipment. And he just loved people. He was constantly looking out for those on the margins and including them in whatever was going on. We heard this from every possible quarter.

While, due to my position, I knew a considerable amount about these ministries and something about Dave’s involvement, I really had no idea of the nature of his impact. He didn’t do it because of his dad. He did it because, as I explained to the reporter who did his story for the local paper, he loved God, he loved life and he loved people. It pretty well boils down to that. He was determined to fully live the life he had been given.

We grieve that he was taken from us so quickly. Actually, 'grief' doesn't even begin to cover it. To know him was to love him. However, we do not grieve as those without hope. Dave is very much alive and in a different and more dynamic place. Not floating on clouds somewhere but involved in God’s ultimate redemptive purposes for His creation. Count on it...

here are some links that will connect you with the bigger story....

If you are on Facebook, join the Celebrating David Powell group.

Daves Obituary..Lifenews.ca Dave's Obituary

Local Newspaper Article  Flamborough Review

News of the accident Guelph News

A cool blog about Dave...  Katie's Blog

The Website we are building..  http://www.davidpowell.me/

Starting somewhere...

How do you go about commemorating someone? While there is no quick answer to the question, it at least begins with the person. David deserves to be remembered. Both for who he is and for what he embodied. Further, he was just so darn quotable.

It became apparent to us as we heard the reports rolling in that David embodied the idea "Irresistable Influence". Connected to this idea is a question: "What will people say when you are gone?" Will anyone notice?  Well, yes, people noticed. And it is not just because he was a good guy and they were sad that someone like him was no longer around. It is because he touched people. He impacted them. He made a difference. People noticed him because he stood out.

He was not showy. He was simply Dave. Lover of God, lover of life and lover of people. Sweet natured and exuberant. Strong and tender. Open and honest.

Next, it involves grieving. As Jesus taught us " Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted". Mourning is spiritual. It is right. The apostle Paul exhorted the Roman church to " mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice". It is not something that we are intended to do in isolation. Yet, healthy grieving always incorporates the defiant hope that is built into the gospel. It involves the vision of the eternal.

Grieving is rarely linear. When people ask me how I am doing, I simpy tell them that I am going forward. At least I am doing that. However, I compare it to a roller coaster ride. One of the corkscrew, gravity defying variety that plays havoc with my central nervous system.

Therefore, I will not be writing in a straight line. It won't begin or end at any particular point. However, it will be going forward. It may not seem like it at times, but it is a matter of faith for me to say that it will.