An inter-Mennonite newspaper, putting the Mennonite world together every week since 1923

EDITORIAL

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Good Friday and Easter fill our thoughts with the reality of death and the promise of eternal life. The passing of a family member or friend causes us to face these facts and hopes in an even more personal way.

When a loved one dies young, the shock strikes with extra force. We know that untimely deaths happen all the time, that every community confronts them at some point. Yet when tragedy hits one’s own family or friends, nothing compares to it.

And so it is for reasons both common and unique that it seems right to share more widely the experience of one large circle of family and friends — those who gathered Feb. 26 in North Newton, Kan., to celebrate the life of Neal Denno.

Denno, 41, died Feb. 23, less than six months after learning he had cancer. He was a member of First Mennonite Church in Newton and a graduate of Bethel College. He was the husband of Denetta, the father of Kaven and Chloe, and the friend of many — as shown by the crowd of more than 1,000 who came to Bethel’s Memorial Hall to remember and thank God for him.

The written account of Denno’s life concluded with this message: “Throughout Neal’s courageous battle, people have asked over and over, ‘What can we do?’ Now we know what each of us can do. Each day, kiss your spouse, hug your kid, spend time with family and friends, speak your mind, get involved, tell someone you love them. . . . Live life to its fullest!”

As a standout athlete and lifelong competitor, Denno did just that. Having grown in Christian faith as an adult, he told his brother, Alan, to urge everyone at the memorial service to give their lives to Jesus Christ.

It’s said that funerals are for the living. This one was as unique and as big as Denno’s personality, and God spoke to us through it. Life is precious, God seemed to be saying. That is why it hurts so much when a life ends too soon.

But life and love are gifts from God. Every day that we use those gifts to the fullest, we are creating something that does not die.

As believers in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we live in the hope of eternal life. But another reality that death cannot destroy is the love we leave behind. The things we say and do will outlive our limited time on Earth. That time might be shorter than we expect.

Denno could hit a golf ball — and a softball, too — a very long way, so it was fitting for his friends to receive golf tees with “Philippians 3:14” written on them: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Those who walk in the light of the resurrection will find that love lives on, in this world and the next. — Paul Schrag