Today’s Scripture Reading (December
8, 2019): 2 Kings 2
Part of the storyline
in the closing episode of the M*A*S*H television series, “Goodbye, Farewell,
and Amen,” is that B. J. Hunnicutt doesn’t want to say goodbye. At several
points in the episode, his best friend, Hawkeye Pierce, continually gives him
the opportunity to say goodbye, but he steadfastly refuses to say the words. It
isn’t until the closing moments of the episode that Hawkeye finally receives
the farewell phrase from his friend. And even then, the words are not spoken
but instead written with stones on the ground as the helicopter lifts off
carrying Hawkeye away from the 4077 for the last time. It is a tear-inducing
moment for all who loved the dramedy series. A final goodbye, not just from B.J.
to Hawkeye, but from all of the lovable characters that infested the fictional
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital to all of its adoring fans. Jamie Farr, who
portrayed Maxwell Klinger on the show, once commented near the end of the
series that if fans looked at the last scripts for the show, they would agree
that it was time to bid farewell to the Korean War, but I am not sure that fans
agreed. Like B.J., we didn’t want to say goodbye.
I don’t
say goodbye well. I know this about myself, but I haven’t been able to change
that one fact. I am a lot like the fictional B. J. Hunnicutt. Goodbye is
painful. And if I don’t have to say it, then maybe it won’t be a reality. And,
If I am sincere, there are a lot of times that goodbye feels like betrayal. And
I can’t think of a worse emotion to be forced to endure.
I don’t
think Elisha says goodbye well, either. It is apparently a well-known fact that
Elijah was going to be taken from the earth on this day. Even the prophets of
Bethel know that a whirlwind is coming with Elijah’s name on it. But as they come
to Elisha and ask if he knows that today is Elijah’s last day, his response is
short and to the point. “I know, and I don’t want to talk about it.” Maybe
Elijah was saying “I am not ready to say goodbye.”
About
seven years have passed since Elijah appeared on the family farm and
interrupted the plowing of the field. For seven years, Elijah and Elisha had
been inseparable. And even though Elisha knew this day was coming, after all he
knew that he was being groomed to take over from the prophet, the day had come
too soon.
Maybe
if we don’t speak of it, perhaps if we don’t say the words, it won’t happen. We
think that, but it is never the truth. Goodbyes happen, on fictional
televisions series and in real life. We don’t have to be comfortable with the
pain that they bring, and maybe we can be excused from saying the words, but,
in life, goodbyes are part of our reality. Eventually the helicopter lifts off,
or a whirlwind takes us away, and we see the words that we didn’t want to
speak. Goodbye is a reality that we have to deal with throughout the length of
life. It is the ending of one stage. And because of the goodbye, there is room
for a new “hello” to appear on the horizon.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2
Kings 3
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