A Sad Father's Day for the Tim Russert Family

Our hearts are heavy, and our prayers go out to the Russert family. Tim Russert, host of Meet the Press, dead at a mere 58 years.

It is sobering to brush up against this path - open to us all. The English writer Dickens said it well: We are all fellow travelers to the grave.

These last few years, three good friends of mine passed away, whom I thought would never fade before I would ever see that day.

One whom I knew in Venezuela, fell to his death free climbing on the granite mountainsides of the Wasatch range. Another, who taught sociology came back from a run, laid down and never got back up. And a third, who'd run the Boston Marathon, sitting at his desk, preparing to teach a Sunday School lesson, died of an aneurism to the brain.

All three were beautiful, loving men, with families who loved them - accomplishing, great men who'd impacted our lives forever for the good they did. While only two were active in their faith, all three went about the world doing good. All three were teachers at various times at the university. One, a friend since my teenage years, was a full professor. Though they did not know each other, all three sought to make the world better in their unique ways. All made my life much richer.

They died within a handful of years of each other, and left such a heartache to be filled by no one else. One grace of their triumverate of passing is etched into our hearts - it is this deep truth: God is in charge.

God is in charge! He is the author and finisher of our faith! Only He can wipe away all our tears! And little children, He hath overcome all!

I thank God I ever knew these men; I pray God bless the Russerts in their loss. May His Holy Spirit comfort them in this time of deep sorrow.