Bright Minnesota Mourning

I heard it again… Cancer has been found in someone I love. It was last week, and Angela and I had just landed in Minneapolis for a quick visit for some small group research with a local church that does them well. We had just finished lunch at Jamie and Gretchen's when Ange made the call to find out how the appointment went.

Scotty and Mary Syde stepped into our lives in the fall of 2001 and very quickly became family to us. When I found out about my mom’s cancer in early ’02, they were over at our house minutes later crying with us and buying me a plane ticket for the next day to go surprise her. They made it possible for me to walk into my mom’s hospital room and see her tears of surprise.

Scotty was my right hand man in Student Ministries – making everyone feel welcome and solving any problem, whether in our Youth Room or in Honduras. Scottie is one of those people that has a magnetism about him that affects everyone around him – if he is on board, everyone is on board. In fact, I used to call him a dreamer, but I realized that he isn’t so much a dreamer, as he is a doer, someone who recognizes big dreams and champions them early and passionately to the point where it seems like his idea. He is what every transformation needs – a strong proponent of the vision – no matter how crazy it may be.

Scotty and I have a relationship that is hard to describe – on one hand I see him as a great friend, an intimate ally that I can have great times with but also share my heart with. On the other hand, he and Mary have been like parents to Angela and I when we lived in Minnesota. Our actual families were hundreds of miles away, but Scotty and Mary proved to be just a phone call away. They were with us in when we were looking at houses, and even there when we bought our first! Scotty would be the first call I would make if Ange got sick, and he was the first and most frequent visitor when her illness led her to a hospital bed. We celebrated Christmas with them and their son Dan, who is in my inner circle of lifelong friends and someone with whom I share too many hobbies and interests to list. Most Sunday nights would find Angela and I laughing and swapping stories in their living room until well past midnight (so late that Scotty would be sound asleep but would try to act as if he was still listening). Scotty is a friend and feels a lot like a dad to me at times when mine is far away.

One of the biggest strengths and maybe even his biggest weakness is that Scotty is a fixer. He wants to solve problems in whatever form they present themselves. When the doctors were stumped by what was keeping Angela so sick or unable to walk, Scotty was calling doctors or researching online or scheming with me on the phone to try to “get this thing figured out”. I’ll never forget seeing him on our London missions trip a few years back rubbing the back of a student that was in the throes of a nasty bout of motion sickness and even holding the bag for her. His favorite TV character is of course Jack Bauer of 24, a character that can single-handedly stop the world from being destroyed without ever having to use the bathroom or eat. When our church was seemingly headed in the wrong direction, it was Scotty who spoke truth and risked to try to “fix” the problems that it was headed for. The reason that it’s a weakness for him is that when he can’t fix it, it tears him up inside. From Angela’s health to board members that disagreed with him, when he couldn’t fix it – he felt weak and helpless.

If there is one thing that I’ve learned in being married and being in ministry, it is that God chooses the weak things to change the world. God chooses the weak things to confound and to frustrate the wise and strong things. When we are feeling most helpless and weak, God is now ready to work in us and through us. When we cannot possibly fix the pain, suffering, apathy, or mindset of someone it forces us to our knees. Desperate. Urgent. Weak. We limp to the cross – desperately carrying or attempting to carry our friend to our suffering savior. I picture the sight of Samm carrying Frodo up the side of the mountain tripping and falling and stumbling yet pushing.

Now my friend Scotty that has been the fixer and the source of so much strength and encouragement needs us to carry him to the feet of Jesus. All of us, in our brokenness and weakness have the chance to do for Scotty what he has done for us. To love him. To fight for him. To cry out to God for him and his family. To pray for Mary and Dan as they cling to Scotty and they cling to Jesus.

And we know God hears us when we cry out to him. We know that He draws near to those who draw near to Him. We know that He has a plan for Scotty. Already we can see it… Just a few days ago at Mayo Clinic, Scotty underwent surgery on the growth in his afflicted pancreas. It was a difficult surgery – but it was done with the skill and expertise of a medical miracle worker and surgical artisan. Hands that were guided by God himself.

Scotty is recovering now and as anyone familiar with this situation knows, recovery can be much more trying than the procedure itself. Mary has been by his side the entire time, sleeping on whatever furniture is in the room – she’d rather be uncomfortable and exhausted next to her lover than alone in a hotel room down the street.

I share this story with all of you because it’s not just Scotty’s story – it’s our story. We all have brokenness, all are wounded and suffering. The need for us to claim the words of Isaiah have never been truer – “By his stripes (wounds) we are healed.” I may not have cancer of the pancreas, but I have wounds that need healing. No one but Jesus can heal me. No one. I cry out to him now for Scotty, Mary, Dan, Angela, Jerry, Bekah, my dad, my sisters, myself, and for you… For Africa, Detroit, New Orleans, Iraq, Minnesota, and Darfur…

Jesus – please heal our brokenness… If you choose to heal others by breaking us, please bring your presence with the pain. Allow us to know your comfort and peace in the midst of the raging war. Pierce our hearts for those who are suffering with no hope. Shower them with love and comfort. Surround them with those who will mourn with them, cry with them, and bring them encouragement. Inspire them through your Word and the words of your saints. Remind us God that Jesus is alive, that death was defeated, the tomb is empty and He is seated at your right hand. Conjure in our hearts the sight of our loved ones that have passed on that are now worshipping you wholly and intimately in your presence. We long to join them, but for the sake of this world we will remain until you call us home. We love you Jesus.