LET US MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

Sometimes, even relatively small cities seem to get hit upside the metaphorical head with terrible, heartbreaking news.

So it was in Palm Springs this afternoon. Two police officers have been killed in the line of duty and a third has been seriously injured.

Yet the life of the community continues. If memory serves, it was St. Seraphim of Sarov, a Russian Starets and mystic, who observed that if in the midst of life, we are in death; it is equally true that in the midst of death; we are in life.

Under such circumstances, we can, and we must, as Seraphim Sarovsky might have said, offer prayers and intercessions for the officers whose lives were so tragically and incontinently taken, as well as prayers and intercessions for the recovery of the officer who was injured.

Yet beyond that, we can but make the Sign of the Cross and continue to go about the business of life to which God has called us. For this earthly life does not stop when one member of community passes into eternal life. Though, as a Christian, I must believe in a theology of resurrection --that this life is but a dress rehearsal, so to speak, for the eternal life that follows –- I also, as a Christian, have to believe that dying is an integral part of living.

So, the resurrection faith I profess and confess requires of me a willingness to look death in the face and say, without quibble, cavil, or demur, “God willing, not today.” We can render the fallen officers no greater tribute than to continue the life of the community they laid down their lives to serve. I do not believe it serves the community or their memory to shut down or start flame wars over timing.

For in the end, the power of the resurrection narrative lies in the fact that death is real, that it will happen to all of us eventually, and that it leaves gaps in the lives of those who have yet to experience its ineluctably. Yet the resurrection narrative also reminds us that in the end, the grave has no victory and death has no sting because the Lord we confess has been the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, rising from the dead, conquering death by death.

Let us make the Sign of the Cross as we offer intercession for the departed. Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon them. Amen.

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PAUL S. MARCHAND lives and practices law in Cathedral City. He is a practicing member of the Episcopal Church, which is not a synod of Saints, but a school for sinners. The views expressed herein are his own, and should not be taken as legal advice