One in a Million

Yesterday, the earth lost one of its best possessions: a lovely woman named Eileen Pomerleau Gordon. She was one in a million. Funny, kind, and slightly eccentric, she won the hearts of all who knew her. She’s had my heart since fifth grade.

You don’t run into a kindred spirit too often in life. God brought us together at a young age, and I will be forever grateful. She was raised Catholic, I was Protestant. We both loved God, but had different beliefs on how to have a relationship with Him. Faith was a constant topic in our long talks, interspersed between secrets about boys and the general angst of growing up.

She thought that being a good person was how you went about it. I argued from Scripture that we could never be “good” enough—that God was holy and would not tolerate sin. That while we were hopeless in our sin, God fixed the problem: He sent His Son to die in our place, paying for our sin, so that we could have a relationship with Him.

For years we debated the issue. Works versus grace. We read the Bible together, we visited each other’s churches, and I met her favorite nuns and even met with the infamous Father Murphy at St. Christopher’s (bold little seventh grader that I was). But over the years I began to wonder if in all her religious efforts she would ever truly grasp the concept of grace: undeserved merit. That God offers salvation as a gift, not an award for good behavior. Round and round we went. But we always landed back at that irreconcilable difference.

The summer after we graduated from high school, I arrived back from five weeks of camp counseling and of course immediately got on the phone with Eileen. “Sit down, Zine,” she told me. “I have big news. I finally get it. I trusted in Jesus to be my Savior while you were gone.” Her sister’s new boyfriend had sat down with her and explained it all: our inadequacy, God’s provision, and that by believing, we would be saved. Something clicked for her that day. And she believed.

It knocked the breath out of me. Could it be that God had finally gotten through to her? As we talked, it became clear the light had definitely come on. She did get it. Her joy and gratitude to God and in what He had done for her was unmistakable.

Everything had changed.

Eileen didn’t do anything half-way. She was on fire. Her love for God was contagious. She read the Bible with a new perspective. She was hungry for truth, deep in her commitment. Her letters from college were filled with what she was learning. God was transforming her, and it was inspiring to watch. I quickly went from tutor to student as she led continually by example.

Yesterday, almost forty years to the day of her salvation, God called Eileen home to live with Him. She conducted a life well-lived, faithfully loving God with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength. I can only imagine the rejoicing in heaven as she entered the presence of God. Her absence leaves a big hole in my heart, but I know the separation is only temporary.

As believers, we don’t grieve as the world grieves. We know that there is a reality beyond what can be seen. We have something to look forward to, a day when faith will be sight. Death isn’t an end, but a doorway to greater things.

Life is all about twists and turns. There is a lot of pain in this world as we live with the consequences of the reality of sin. One day we will understand it all, as we stand in the illuminating presence of God. Eileen is there right now. Someday I will stand beside her, expressing joy and gratitude to the King of Kings. For now, I am thankful for the part she played in my life drawing me closer to Him.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5