Our close friend, Glenn, died in a car accident a few weeks ago. We met him when we were older and wiser 20-year-olds and he was only 18. We would have celebrated a 50-year friendship this coming December. We reared our children together, and we also went through the same abusive church leadership situation for over 20 years.
I didn’t talk much about our church situation in my book, Walking with the Creator Along the Narrow Road, published by Indian Life Books, because I didn’t want to further humiliate people, and because my own involvement brought me shame and embarrassment. Yet, it was this painful situation that launched my search for God’s answers. The whole story may not be in my book, but the answers are.
Glenn’s death brought us together again with old friends, many of whom we had not seen for over 25 years. Apprehension accompanied me as I journeyed for three days to a destination that had brought both great joy and tremendous hurt. Only my desire to hug my friend who had lost her husband and see others we may not have the opportunity to see again compelled me to take the trip.
Even though the leader died over 25 years ago, it took all of us time to sort through the lies and establish new lives. Our leader used lies and manipulation to cover his failings. He hurt a lot of people. He pitted one against another with lies to shred credibility in case anyone found out the truth and talked. God had sent us many warnings, but we ignored them; instead, we hung on to our own dreams and our friends, who were like family.
Another dear friend hosted the celebration of Glenn’s life in her home. The open house was to take place between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Most stayed from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. We laughed over good memories, cried as we told different ones how special they were to us. We heard others tell us the same. We shared wonderful stories of God’s faithfulness over the years, and we all agreed that Glenn would have loved such a party.
As we started to leave, a friend declared, “We survived!”
Yes, we did, and along with that—Love won! For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, NIV).
Sue Carlisle grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. An enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, her passion is to encourage people to look at creation and see our awesome Creator. Sue is
author of Walking with the Creator Along the Narrow Road (2013 Indian Life Books) and a columnist for Indian Life. She and her husband, Wes, now live in Thunder Bay, ON.
