Goodbye, Steve

Today's post is going to be a bit different. You might notice a lack of my usual flair for all things sarcastic. Absent are the biting comments toward the social structure of the modern world. And, most notably, there will be no lip synching video today. If ever there was a day to break character, that day is today.

Last week the world lost one of what many choose to refer to as "the good ones". In this particular instance the title could not be more fitting. Steve Szoke lived up to that title in a way that many of us could only dream of. Now, I would be lying if I were to tell you that he and I were the closest of friends. In all honesty, he and I had not spoken (outside of the world of the internet) in about 10 years. Steve was one of the first people that introduced himself to me as I moved into my dorm at college. It took no time at all for me to learn what he was "all about".

You see, Steve's passion was people. Plain and simple. He saw a world full of hurting souls. Steve knew the cure for that pain and made it his mission to reach out to as many as possible with it. He had a gift. And, there was no way he was going to keep it to himself.

When I stepped into Burns Funeral Home in Crown Point, Indiana this past weekend I had no idea what to expect. What I found was that Steve touched more lives than I ever could have imagined. I have never before attended a funeral in which I had to stand up the entire time because no seats were available. Not only were there no seats available, but space to stand was scarce as well.

During the service a video was shown. Steve had recorded some of his thoughts a couple of days before his passing and I was struck by what he said. In a nutshell, Steve believed that Jesus loved people. It didn't matter what background these people had. Jesus simply loved people. And he offers the gift of salvation to everyone.

It just got me to thinking, why in the world would somebody not want to accept such a gift? Too many times we find ourselves (notice that I include myself here) concerned with the state of people lives rather than simply loving them. Steve had it right. Jesus doesn't stand there and point out our faults and say "You've got to stop doing what you're doing". That was never His message. He wants us to come to Him and love Him. All because he wants us to come home to Him someday.

Well, Steve did just that. Now he is enjoying a reward so fantastic that we could not possibly imagine such perfection.

Goodbye, Steve. I'll see you again.