Birth of hope
December 9, 2005
Kevin Pence
The tragic news regarding one of our fellow students, Rachel Uchida, brings, upon reflection, a reminder of our own mortality. Rachel was a beautiful girl with a beautiful voice, full of vibrancy and youth. Death is not exclusive to the old and infirm; our generation too faces this reality. As Christmas time draws near, Rachel’s death is particularly tragic, but thinking about death in general is not. Everyone at TWU is aware (or should be) that Christmas is more than gathering as a family, eating good food, and giving gifts to loved ones, good as those things may be. Christmas is more than festive lights and songs of snow and sleighs. The real significance of Christmas, of course, is the coming of Christ. As the Uchida family mourns for Rachel, perhaps they will find comfort in a song written by her brother, Andrew. In it, Christ sings to us, “Come, lay your burdens down at My feet…Come, I want to be with you!” Yet before we were able to come to Him, God came to us through the Incarnation. At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of the One who came to “give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:77-79). Thus, in light of the deeper meaning of Christmas, Rachel’s death, though we will miss her and mourn our loss, gives way to hope. We are reminded that Christ came to give us victory over death: “O death where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 15:55-57). Because of her faith in Jesus, Rachel’s death is not the end. She and all others who have gone before us will be missed as family and friends gather together this year, but we can rejoice in the hope that Christ brought when He came at Christmas, the hope of future glory and reunification with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now you go...
2 Responses to “Birth of hope”
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I’m not sure what I think of this. I truly appreciate Kevin’s heart in following up with this story. I just felt weird reading it. I read it about a week ago. Even now I can’t re-read it. I just don’t know how to react. Her life was beautiful and I just don’t know how to feel.
Aloha Kevin, this is Rachel’s mom from Honolulu. We used your article above on the bulletin for Rachel’s memorial service. It was a comfort and hope to us. Thank you so much for such a beautifully written piece. You took a tragic happening and shed enough gentle light on it to be able to take our focus from the tragedy and cause us to look at the Lord and point to His ultimate gift of salvation. I had wanted to contact you to thank you but wasn’t able to since you’d graduated, I believe. You write so well, I hope that you’re still writing and pointing people to Jesus. We are thankful for you. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write. I just found this site tonight and I’m so glad. I hope one day, you’ll find this note to you.