Before The Coffin was lowered into the vault of the earth, one of the funeral directors took a beautifully formed flower from the bouquet atop the coffin and gave it to our resting brother’s sister-wife He repeated the gesture for each of our brother’s children
The colors will fade and petals fall, but memories of our brother will linger on, for we have all, in a sense, received a flower by which to remember him We knew our brother as a man influenced by the sweet living water which comes from heaven Because of this, he stood erect, upright before his Creator A man given the tongue of stirring exhortations, he exhorted us all to look into the mirror of the perfect law of liberty and to see ourselves as we really are I sensed with each exhortation he was doing Just that to himself He was an honest man and what he saw then did not always please him.
Of all his exhortations, one stands out in my mind He said, “We cannot all be Bro John Thomas or Bro Robert Roberts” Knowing this, we should be content with our lot and fulfill, to the best of our ability, the role God has assigned us Like many a brother, we fantasized in our youth of writing books with a profound understanding of the scriptures We dreamed of being used by God to evangelize countries, large cities and towns As with most of us, the passing of time revealed more limited and modest accomplishments.
Our brother’s exhortation taught that we all can’t be the first violinist Many of us should be very grateful to play second fiddle The musical presentation would never be complete without them So it is m the orchestra of life as portrayed by scripture.
The apostle Paul was called to evangelize the Gentile world His performance shook the foundations of Rome because of the supporting sound received from Luke, Timothy, Barnabas and others who, thanks be to God, ably played the second fiddles.
Toward the end, our brother realized his days were numbered and, with a voice that was still strong, he confessed, “The Lord has been good to me, I have had a good life” May our lives be known for contentment and thanksgiving, as the autumn and winter will pass and the springtime will be upon us In that day, it will make no difference whether we have played first violin or second fiddle so long as we have done it with faith and thanksgiving to God.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One