As if I needed any more reminders, life is short. Living in Orlando this past week has reminded me of that more than 52 times. Now I have received word that Brad, my first cousin once-removed, passed away in his sleep last night. We haven’t been in touch for years, but my memories of him remind me of what it means to truly live life.

Brad and I played freshman football together. He was the toughest player I knew. He could knock a guy out of his socks. He could then be on the receiving end of a monstrous hit and pop right up off the ground without a wince. He was always smiling. He loved telling jokes. People loved being around him. Brad was not only a relative, he was also one of my best friends.

Shortly after our freshman year of high school Brad and his family moved to Texas. We both got busy with our high school careers. The miles that separated us in the days before social media and cell phones meant that our lives would go in different directions.

But I still felt a strong connection to Brad later in life when I discovered that he took on an extremely unique career. He became a sand sculptor. He traveled the world to display his amazing creativity. His work brought joy and fascination to people in countless places all over the globe. He knew how to live. He did what he loved and shared it.

I can think of worse ways to live life.

I’m reminded of Psalm 39:

O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!

I am not a fatalist or an epicurean (“Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die”). But I am an advocate for living life to the full:

• Enjoying each and every day
• Looking for the best in people
• Discovering new things
• Doing what you do best
• Finding “flow”
• Attempting to dispense with worry
• Appreciating family
• Having a nice dinner around a table with good friends
• Traveling whenever you get the chance
• Making good art
• Doing what you love and sharing it

Psalm 39 doesn’t leave us in a lurch:

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.

Live in hope. Live life to the full.

Sometimes taking a step of faith has an impact on everyday life. Within the past couple of weeks my wife, Tammy, started her own business called PerfectlyPillō. She’s been thinking about and planning for it for quite some time. Now that school’s out for the summer she decided to take the leap. And it is a leap of faith.

Starting anything new comes with all kinds of questions. Will it work? Will it be worth my time? Will people respond? Will I be able to learn everything I need to in order for success?

But perhaps the biggest question is: Am I an imposter? 

This is where the faith you had to start something new needs to come from the depths of your heart and out your mouth in the form of words. There is such thing is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe that you are an imposter and you start to speak those kinds of doubt-filled words out of your mouth, they will soon come to fruition in the form of failed ventures.

But when you speak out loud words of faith they tend to come true. There is a great power in words. They have the power to move, to guide, to stop, and to start. They have the power to motivate, to celebrate, to appreciate, and dedicate.

Jesus Himself once said: 

Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. (Luke 11:23)

Jesus is, of course, referring to faith in Him as Savior. But He is most certainly speaking of the power of faith-filled words. Faith in Him is far stronger than faith in our own abilities.

But when we possess both faith in Him and faith in the abilities He has given us, we are doubly able to actually carry out the vocational things we are gifted to do. We are motivated to work hard to carry out in action what we have spoken with our words. We are much more likely to climb the challenging hills and less likely to slide down the slippery slopes.

So I’m encouraging Tammy to speak out of her mouth positive words about her new business. I’m encouraging you, too, to speak out of your mouth positive words regarding the wonderful challenges you face in life. When you conquer them you will look back and realize what an incredible impact was made by your positive words. You will find yourself further along and higher up the hill than you would have had you focused on the negative.

How can you more consistently put your faith into words?

We’ve lived in the Orlando area for almost exactly four years now. Though my wife, Tammy, and I are from the northern states of Wisconsin and Illinois we have willingly and lovingly adopted Orlando as our home. We love it for the weather, its beautiful lakes and parks, Disney and Sea World, the restaurants, places like Winter Park and Mills 50, and especially the people.

I know full well that Florida gets a bad rap because of the crazy news stories that seem to flow out of our state. But the news story that came out of our city in the early morning hours of June 12, 2016, could have happened anywhere. As the day wore on we were more and more horrified by the reckless disregard for human life, by the stories that were released, and by the sheer numbers of those who had lost their lives.

We prayed in church even before we knew the entire impact.

Orlando’s nickname is “The City Beautiful.” And it most certainly is for a myriad of reasons. But today Orlando bleeds with the blood of too many victims. The City Beautiful has been marred by terror. We thought things like this only happened in Paris or London.

Now it has come home. As one Law Enforcement officer said, “This is not an attack on our city. It is an attack on America.”

We know far too many people who could have been at that night club. We’ve got friends in the Orlando theatre community, we have gay friends in the service industry, we have a close friend who is a pastor and does ministry in the LGBT community of Orlando.

Beauty turned to the horrible ugliness of death in the dark hours of a Sunday morning.

But here’s why Orlando is still The City Beautiful:

• When there was an urgent call for blood donation, people lined up hundreds deep in the Florida heat to freely give that precious commodity
• Counseling centers opened immediately to help people deal with grief and fear
• Churches all over town scheduled vigils to pray for peace and for the families and friends of the victims
• Orlando is a part of the United States of America and Americans are resilient, brave, and resolute

I love my city. 

So does my Savior.

He poured out His own blood for it.

It is my hope and prayer that this event will do nothing other than draw people closer to Jesus. That they will know Him as Savior. That they will know the most beautiful thing of all: Jesus’ love, forgiveness, peace, hope, life, and salvation all made possible by His own life, death, and resurrection.

For we all hope and long for The City Beautiful that is to come. As St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until the rest in Thee.”

Orlando is The City Beautiful. 

And it is my home.

When the wound “heals” from all of this there will always be a scar on The City Beautiful. 

But beauty will rise from the ashes and our city will rise up, stronger than ever.

You may not know that the song “Taps,” traditionally played on Memorial Day and at military funerals, has lyrics. We never hear them sung. The song is usually played on a single bugle, with reverence and honor. I’ve never seen it played without inducing tears. And rightfully so.

But when you add the lyrics to the song, it makes it even more poignant:

Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky
All is well, safely rest
God is nigh.

Fading light dims the sight
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright
From afar, drawing near
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise for our days
Neath the sun, ‘neath the stars’, ‘neath the sky’
As we go, this we know
God is nigh.

The familiar tune was arranged in its present form by Union Army Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield in July 1862. Pretty soon both the Union and Confederate armies were using the song. They both probably did so thinking that God was “on their side.” More than that, He was “nigh.”

There’s a lesson in that. People were dying in the Civil War for deeply held beliefs regarding slavery, states rights, and other societal mores. The divide was so deep that legions of armies were losing their lives in a seemingly never-ending war.

And yet they were both using a song to memorialize their dead with lyrics that ended: “God is nigh.” And He was. He may not have been “on their side,” but He was most certainly “nigh.”

And He is.

We’re not fighting a Civil War today. But there are great and obvious divides in our country. On this Memorial Day we may be more divided today than we have been at any other time since the Civil War. Social media and national media have emphasized that divide and have perhaps even deepened it.

And yet the promise of Jesus remains no matter the “side” on which you find yourself today in the United States of America:

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20b).

On this Memorial Day we remember all those who have given their lives so that we have the freedom to believe and express the fact that “God is nigh.” In war time and in peace time, in the midst of political divide, no matter who the next president may be:

God is nigh. 

That’s His promise. He is nigh and hear because He promises to be. He is as near as His perfect Word.

How have you seen evidence that “God is nigh”?