.......He's Ok!

...................He’s OK

 

Well I’ve tried for the last few days, but, I couldn’t.  I couldn’t bring myself to write about my friend Henry Carey.  Henry is gone, no Henry is absent from the body, now present with The Lord.  Ok physically he is no longer here, but who he was, those memories will never fade.  The impact on my life, words could not describe, Henry Carey was a giant.  Not the kind you would fear, a gentle giant. Admired and respected.

          Tuesday February 16, 2016 at 3:01 I had an incoming phone call.  I looked down at my phone and the name that appeared on my screen said “Henry Carey” I answered, and with that voice of his he said “Hello Pat” I immediately went in to my “Hey Rev. Carey what I do now spill.  We both laugh finish the conversation and I ended with “Ok I’ll talk to you later”.   That conversation lasted 1 minute; I have looked at my call history on my phone every day since I received the news.  We should have talked longer, we should have laughed more, I should have asked him more questions.

          Later will never come on this side of Glory, and that’s alright.  He and I will never get on a church van and travel across the country to stand on street corners sharing our convictions in the Lord to the lost as we did for many years on the Evangelism Team.   Heck we will never share homemade teacakes we would eat on our road trips and that’s ok too.  I will never get a chance to ask him again if he is the bouncer in front of Pastors door on Sundays because I need to speak to the Pastor, we will never laugh about him being a bouncer, and I’m absolutely fine with it.  My cherish memories of him standing with me and praying for me when I had to make the decision to disconnect my father from his life support machine, are but memories.  I am ok with that.

          Those of you who loved him may question what I’ve said; don’t. I loved Henry Carey.  There is a void in my life because he is no longer physically here.  But, as a Christian I understand that Henry Carey didn’t send up timber to heaven on a daily basis and never expect to live in his heavenly home.  I understand that every Wednesday morning in his “Wednesday in the Word” wasn’t spent talking about a place he never wanted to go.  I understand that Henry Carey is at home now.  And some glad morning when this life for me is over, I will see him again.  As tragically as it appears that Henry Carey left this earth, I believe that God just as he did with Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11 was carried away in a whirlwind.    2 Kings 2:11 King James Version (KJV) “¹¹ And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven”.   What you heard about Henry is not true; Henry’s spirit was in heaven before his car got the news.  Henry never look back, he never saw or heard what we have seen and heard.   Henry is at peace, because God has kept his promise to him.  Never leaving him and never forsaking him; I am ok with that.

          But, it what be a shame, if all that we have loved about Henry Carey, would now be frozen in our hearts.  If his departure would not inspire us to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk.  If we did not follow the narrow path he journeyed daily.  If his humbleness, his meekness, his boldness, his humility, his love for us, his family, his church and more than anything his God would not be somehow reciprocal  in our lives.  If we do not receive the baton that was dropped in our laps and run the same race as he did with patience and determination. It has been said the battle is not won by the strongest; the race not won by the fastest, but to him that endures to the end.  Henry Carey has won his race, he has finished his course. I rejoice in that.

Rev. Henry Carey III was my friend.  If his friendship, his teaching and preaching has meant anything to me; I cannot allow my broken heart, my tear stained eyes, and this void I feel to be only that.  I have a hope that last Wednesday as he delivered his final Wednesday in the Word. He took wings as eagles, because he had run without becoming weary and he had walked and fainted not. I believe that this was his message to us, run on just a little while longer, journey on, witness on, praise on and see what the end will be.  So with my hands held high, my mouth filled with praise, with a heart of thanksgiving, I will Bless thee O Lord; for his life, for his spirit, for his service.   I believe that  my friend, my brother, Gods servant is OK with that

 

 

By: PYM’S Voice

 

 
                                               R.I.P. My Friend
                                               Rest Well,