A Little Perspective

I gained a little perspective about what it is like to be an immigrant this week. On Saturday, I was honored to play the piano for the funeral of Krishna Kumar Rai. He fled to this country from Nepal where he had lived for many years in a refugee camp. His mother became a Christian when she heard the Gospel of Christ from a missionary there. Since moving to this country, many refugees like him from the apartment complex where he lived have been coming to Christ Church to worship and take free English classes.

Krishna was overcome by his difficult circumstances, and in a moment of profound misery, took his own life. Nepali, Indian and African people are just some of the many who came from all over Nashville and the Southeast United States to join in mourning this family's loss.

As different speakers addressed the grieving congregation of Hindus, Muslims, and Evangelical Christians, there was a great sense of hope if you can imagine that in such horrific circumstances. We were reminded of our connectedness as children of God, we were reminded that we are united in grief, and we were reminded that whatever your definition of home on earth may be, it is only a passing vision when compared to eternity.

There were some interruptions, awkward moments, false starts, misunderstandings, misinterpretations and failures to meet expectations; but I believe this was a snapshot of what the gospel tells us to do when we are instructed to bear one another's burdens. We may have done it clumsily, but we did it.

A few steps away from the resting place of one of gospel music's greatest "stars", Vestal Goodman, Pastor Dan Scott sang the Lord's prayer, we joined to sing Amazing Grace, Blessed Assurance, and listened to Nepali people sing, in their own language, praises to our risen Savior as Krishna was buried in a casket provided by the generosity of Christ Church, in a plot that I'm sure his family could not afford. We stood there until the last shovel of fresh red earth covered Krishna's grave beside a gently flowing stream, while white spring blooms rained down their snowy petals as if to add to the tears that were already being shed for this young man.

I am still trying to figure out what it all means, but right now it mainly makes me feel more sympathetic toward people who have a different background, and who face unique challenges that I cannot understand. It also makes me thankful for a place like Christ Church where we hear the gospel preached in genuine love as closely to the way I imagine Jesus himself preached it as I have ever heard. You can watch our services live on Sunday mornings, or watch past services anytime by going to http://christchurchnashville.org and clicking on sermons.