The following post was written on March 21st, 2012, the day after my friend, Matthew Puckett, was killed by the state of Mississippi. The last thing asked of me before he died was that we wouldn’t hate, but instead work to end the system that was set to kill him. “Make them care” was his final request, which is why I wrote “The Last Verdict”. I wrote the following words the day after Matt left us, but they ring true today.

Yesterday, my Friend Matthew Puckett was executed by the state of Mississippi. Today we begin to mourn his loss. As I wept last night I tried to process how to mourn such a loss, such an injustice. I was reminded of Jesus’ promise in the Beatitudes:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

There seems so little blessing in mourning. The pain and the loss is all to real and present. And yet, in the midst of this tragedy, I found myself mourning his death with hundreds, even thousands of others who had come together to fight for his life. While the battle was lost, Matt’s life and death brought together a community that stand together, many of us deep and true friends for life as a result.

Presence. There is such powerful comfort in mourning together, present with each other in our brokenness. Not trying fix it, to solve it or even to explain it. We are simply in it together. Presence.

This is where the blessing comes for those who mourn, for we will be comforted. The Presence of this loving community reflects the deeper presence of a God whose love for Matt and for each of us is unparalleled. And this God loves us with such absolute surety that He became present to us in the person of Jesus- giving up power and position to be present with us. Presence.

That same Jesus died so that we might truly lay hold of the eternal promise of being with God. Even Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent to us the Holy Spirit- the very presence of the fullness of the divine that dwells in our hearts. More than than, that same Spirit unites us together as one, in Christ. And so we are together, united in a way that surpasses understanding. Presence.

Matt was executed at the hands of the state for the crimes of another. The beauty comes when we realize that he was welcomed into the arms of a loving Savior who was executed at the hands of the state for the sins of others. Matt is with Jesus- truly with Him– untouched by the fear, the hate, the suffering and the pain that he endured for so long. Presence.

Blessed are we when we mourn, for we are truly comforted.