The Loss of Brian*

 

Do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Our bodies are temples, created to house the presence of God. Let that sink in for a minute. How did you treat that temple yesterday? Don’t worry, this isn’t a fitness lecture. Trust me, I’m in no position to give one of those! My point is that while we know that and believe it, we forget sometimes.

Think of your home.  At our house there is always a project and they are all designed to enhance the look and livability of our house. To be completely transparent, I don’t do so well with the aforementioned temple. I go through phases of eating well, sleeping enough and getting a decent amount of exercise but then so many other things are pressing or more important and let’s not deny the trumpet call of chocolate.

For years I knew a man named Brian who was constantly challenging me to change. Before you picture me as morbidly obese or horribly out of shape, I’ll tell you the facts. My weight is at the lower end of the normal range and my body is quite healthy. I have no chronic diseases or health issues. The thing with Brian was that his goal was to build and preserve the best body possible to live as long as humanly possible. As long as humanly possible because in Brain’s life there was no God.

One day as he was explaining that to my friend Charlene and me, I commented on our lack of need for such vigilant attention to the details of our physical body. There ensued a conversation about what is important. To Brian, physical and mental health were paramount. To Charlene and me, God is God, number one priority in our lives. That’s where the rubber hit the road because of Brain’s atheism.

We spoke for about forty minutes, all of it calm and pleasant. When Brian left our classroom he told us that while he still found us terribly misguided, he appreciated that we didn’t yell and carry on and that we treated his ideas with respect. (A side note, that was his perception. We treated him with respect. His ideas were ridiculous.)  At one point in the conversation I told Brian he did have a god. Which he vehemently denied. Brian’s god was his own body.  He didn’t see his body as a home for God but as god.

Sadly that body, that god, turned on him just a few months after our conversation. Charlene and I, among so many others hoped and prayed that the physical pain he was suffering would show Brian how fallible his system really was and cause him to reach for something better.  Apparently that never happened because, most likely feeling betrayed by the god of his making, Brian took his life.

There is a line from the Newsboys song, “Breakfast” that has been running through my head since I heard that news. “Those here without the Lord how do you cope?” It is a line that I have pondered on many, many occasions. My hope is in the name of the Lord and I am never disappointed.  When my hope is in another person, I can  suffer disappointment. Money? Disappointment.  Success? Disappointment. My body? Disappointment, again. My point is that no matter how great our relationships are, how wealthy we are, how successful or how healthy and gorgeous we are, nothing has value without God.

So I think about Brian and my heart breaks.  Sad enough to endure this world alone but tragic beyond my comprehension to head to the next one without Jesus by my side.

We did what we could, Charlene and I.  We loved Brian. We prayed for him. We offered the invitation many times to introduce him to the One who saves.  Brian believed he knew better.  My heart breaks for him but where is the hope?

Today I will head to church where I will gather with other people who believe as I do that God is all we need.  I will pray that someone, somewhere recognizes his or her need for a Savior.  It’s all I can do at this point to move past the loss of Brian.  

*This is dedicated to the memory of Brian Syme, an extremely kind and incredibly intelligent man, who will be missed by so many people.