Dec 4th People we don't know

Phillip Hughes funeral was yesterday.   A 25 year old cricketer Id never heard of until his death a few days ago.  The news has been full of it and overnight Facebook filled with photographs of people holding cricket bats and gloves as a tribute to him.   His funeral was attended by thousands and watched by millions - especially in Australia where he lived.   Am I the only one who finds it very strange that one very sad accident which takes one young life can be so trumpeted around the world when every day thousands of 25 year olds are killed or die, most of them never even making the comment section of their local newspapers?

Why the outpouring of grief for Phillip Hughes this week?  Yes he was a talented young sportsman and his death was a horrible freak accident which happened in public and was shockingly caught on camera.   But......   well, to me the reaction has seemed disproportionate...

So I've been thinking about this and wondering why it is that people react so strongly to the death of certain individuals and not to others... and why it bothers me...and should it bother me..?

Then I remembered the story of someone else who recently died suddenly and tragically.  But this time someone not famous or well known.  A schoolgirl called Keane Wallis-Bennet who at 12 years old was killed when a wall in her school changing rooms fell on her in April last year.
A friend of mine who is a minister in Edinburgh with pastoral responsibility for the school has helped Keanes friends write and record a song in her memory in order to raise funds for a memorial.  The song was released on itunes on Monday and is already at the top of the download charts.  How amazing!   Thanks to Facebook and Twitter the death of a little girl in Edinburgh is causing ripples across the country - and maybe across the world.

Thinking about these two people who I didn't know and with whom I have no connection at all has brought something into focus for me today.  And it is this.   People need to believe that they matter.

I think the reason people ' grieve' for those they have never met, is that they see their own lives reflected in the lives of those who have died.   They think ' that could have been me'  or  they put themselves in the shoes of the mother/wife/brother/ son who has suffered the tragic loss and are thankful its not them.   And they perceive an injustice that a life has been lost so young.   Somehow dying at 12 or at 25 doesn't seem fair does it?   Dying at 96 is fine because at 96 you have had your chance to live a full life.  But to be ' cut off in your prime' ....... well that is unjust.
I dont think God sees it that way.  To God, dying at 96 if you don't know Him is every bit as tragic as dying at 12.   And to God dying at 12 if you DO know Him is no tragedy at all.  Because the message of Christmas is that whenever you die Jesus offers you the chance to be with Him for eternity - from the youngest to the oldest.  A free gift.  For everyone.

 God knows and loves everyone.  Every single person on the planet.  Nobody is more special than anyone else.  Be you a world famous sports person , a household name with a glittering career, or a schoolkid in a city school you are worth celebrating.   The Ebola victim in Liberia deserves just as much attention as the cricketer in Australia.  Because their life has been worth just as much.

Lord I thank you that I matter to you.  Remind me on the days when I don't even matter to myself.  Remind me on the days I feel overlooked and unimportant.  Thank you Jesus that you know everything about me and You came to make sure that there was a way for me to spend eternity with You.  Because You want to spend eternity with me.  I pray for the family of Phillip Hughes and Keane Wallis Bennet.  I pray for everyone who is grieving in the run up to Christmas.  Its a very difficult time for so many people.  Please be their comfort and strength, be their light and their hope.
And where I can be your voice and hands let me not be lacking.   Amen