I delivered the eulogy for Al Scarpellini last week. 15 years earlier I delivered the eulogy for his son Zach, who was a 20 year-old Bellarmine student when he was murdered.
Zach took care of our lawn and was the kind of young man you would want your daughter to marry. He was polite ...intelligent ...hard-working ...kindhearted ...and had a bright future.
Al's love for Zach was so visible and his grief so deep. A light went out in his eyes. He carried his grief with him and it never left. You never get over something like that. How could anyone get over it? But somehow you find a way to go on. You find a way to live the best you can. And it takes a real courage to not give up; to just go on with life. It takes a real strength of spirit to not let the despair take your life too.
And that's what Al did. He got up every day and gave his very best to his work. He made a difference in other's people's lives in profound ways. There was a Facebook page with hundreds of posts about the positive impact of his life. It's hard to imagine how hard this must have been. To go on when you don't think you can go on.
Why do I share this? Because it takes real courage to go on and give your best to life when life has given you it's very worst. There are these sort of unsung heroes all around us who do not need to draw attention to themselves. Every day they get up and attempt to bring their best to the world in spite of a deep wound in their soul that cannot heal.
Often we don't even know who they are. But they sit next to you in church. They work beside you on your job. They stand in line with you for coffee at Starbucks.
This weekend I will be talking about the gift that God gives us that is better than answers. It's a gift that give us the strength to carry on when life has smashed our dreams. It's called
The Heart of the Gospel.
Peace and Love,
David Emery