An Article From Ron Branch

Hi Friends,

Ron Branch is Pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Mason, WV. He regularly writes a column in his local newspaper and always shares it with me via e-mail. With his permission, I am passing this column along to you today. It's a great tribute to a Godly father which was written by Ron a number of years ago, two years after his father had gone home to be with the Lord. I hope that you will find it a blessing as I did.

C.J.

IT IS THE HOPE CHRIST GIVES THAT SOOTHES THE PAIN OF THE SOUL
(Pastor Ron Branch, 2-13-08)

February 15th marks thirteen years since my father, Carroll Branch, passed away. He was sixty-five years-old when he died. His death for me was like having an anchor dislodged in the mooring of my life. But, the hope one can have in Christ during adverse circumstances is an anchor of the soul that is so “steadfast and sure,” according to Hebrews 6:19, it can never be displaced.
Two years after his death, I wrote my dad a letter. I have shared this with you before. But, because of these cold and cloudy winter months, I rather feel compelled to do so again with the understanding how the human condition continues to grasp for something to soothe the pains that assail the soul in the life we live.
There is constant comfort found in Jesus Christ. All is not hopeless, but hopeful. Note how Jesus helped me cope with the death of the most influential man of my life.

Dear Dad,
Though I know that time is no longer a concern to you, February marks two years since you died. I strain to keep from crying as I think on it, but only because I miss your physical presence. Mom does, too. So do Chris and Jeff.
I write this note to tell you how I appreciate the hope in Christ with which you held onto in death. People back home still talk about how you continually manifested the presence of Christ right up to the end.
If you remember, I visited you in the hospital two weeks before you died. You were experiencing a variety of physical complications. It was then that I told you, “Dad, you did good. You were a good dad from whom I learned much.”
I spoke specifically how your influence lights my personal path in life. You beamed broadly as tears trickled from your eyes.
But, as I reflect on that hospital-room scene, which was the last time I saw you alive, I believe you knew you were going to die. Yet, you exemplified such powerful hope in Christ. Your countenance was confident. Unafraid.
That same hope I held onto myself as I stepped through the grief, as I sang with your grandsons at the funeral, and as I stood before the people and uplifted the Savior of your soul.
In those moments, I understood more than ever before that the hope Jesus gives dissipates hopeless sorrow. And, in these past two years, the hope that Jesus gives maintains a comforting connection that Death otherwise breaks.
For, I know assuredly that Death has not disconnected us.
The hope that Jesus gives annexes our vitally different spheres, transcending and touching the time of my temporal with your timeless eternal. Even though you are not here, and I am not there, we are still connected through Christ.
I am so thankful that Christ has brought victory to the human experience. The Master Physician gave Death a different diagnosis. The Master Carpenter reconstructed Death’s design. The Master Rabbi vitally re-interpreted Death’s dissertation. The Master of Parables gave the story of Death a happy ending.
Well, Dad, I’ll bring this note to a close. It is obvious that I cannot mail this note to you. Can’t fax it, either.
But, I can offer it as an intercepted letter for others to read, and perhaps their hope in Christ will strengthen. Perhaps someone will read it and come to realize that death is not the end of existence, that there is an eternity in which to exist, and that Christ gives a sure hope for a Heavenly eternity for all who will believe in Him.
I usually end my letters with “God bless you richly.” But, I know He is doing just that.
See you someday soon, Ron