John Claypool has been a tremendous influence on my life both as a pastor and as a father who has buried one of his children. Claypool modeled for me resilience in facing the unimaginable pain of lowering a child into the grave. We indeed became fellow strugglers.
Laura Lou, Claypool’s daughter, died at the age of 10 with leukemia. Where does a Baptist pastor go when he, himself, is in need of pastoral care? Claypool turned to a friend, a rabbi, whom he had known for years.
At one point when Claypool was unusually low, he told his rabbi friend, “I think it is hopeless.” His rabbi friend said, “John, come into my office and sit with me. I want to talk to you about what you have just said.”
This is how John Claypool describes what happened in the rabbi’s study:
“I still remember how unhurriedly he lit his pipe and disappeared
for a moment in a cloud of smoke. As the smoke began to dissipate,
he said, ‘I need to tell you something young man. To the Jew, there is
only one unforgivable sin, and that is the sin of despair.'”
He continued:
“Humanly speaking, despair is presumptuous. It is saying something
about the future that we have no right to say because we have not been
there yet and do not know enough.Think of the times you have been surprised in the past as you looked
at a certain situation and deemed it hopeless. Then, lo and behold, forces
that you did not even realize existed broke in and changed everything.
We do not know enough to embrace the absolutism of despair and,
theologically speaking, despair is downright heretical.”
Claypool concludes,
” That exchange occurred over 40 years ago, yet here I am recounting
these words once again because of the powerful impact they have had
on me.”
This Thanksgiving let’s remind ourselves that we don’t know enough to embrace the absolutism of despair. Rather, let’s begin recounting the many times God has shown himself to be faithful. There’s a lot of wisdom in that old hymn “Count Your Blessings.”
God is trustworthy and will see us through. Please, never doubt that. It’s like what I heard a teenager say once; “God didn’t pluck us out of the river to drown us in the ocean.”
Richard
God is always there, it is I who pulls away , though I often try to blame Him for pulling away from me. It is so easy to always cast the blame on God or someone who is trying to be there for you. Claypool had a friend there willing to listen to him in his despair. a non-judgemental friend, a wise friend who did not say you are wrong to despair, but instead defined despair from his prospective. God is always there, ready to support and comfort, He is upon the high mountain top with you and He is in the lowest and darkest of valleys with His loving arms extended out toward you. “So count your Blessings, name them one by one. Just see what God has done.”
Wise words sweet friend. Thanks for sharing.