In Memorium: Robert Jordan

Fantasy fans know the name -- the man who brought epic-scale fantasy back to life, many would say. The man who wrote the Wheel of Time series -- a series that now, unfortunately, may never be finished.

I started the series, but got bogged down in a few of the books in the middle of the series and never picked it back up. Jordan writes a lot like I tend to write -- detail after detail, creating a world and then wanting people to describe it. He did it better than I can ever hope to (which is why I tend to stick to non-fiction, for now anyway).

I wasn't going to mention his passing here -- though his life is certainly worth celebrating and remembering, I figured that many people reading (if I still have readers, as long as this blog has been dormant!) wouldn't know him. But reading the announcement on his blog page, I read this

Never, never loose faith. RJ did not. Harriet hasn’t. I haven’t. Going through what we have, our faith is only strengthened. Besides, if God didn’t exist, we would have never had Jim. We did. God does. Remember my Brother/Cousin, my friend, think of him fondly and glorify God’s name.

I know nothing of Jordan's spirituality, but this statement resonates with me. When death strikes close to us, we need to remember the departed, mourn their loss, grieve -- certainly all of that. But we are also to glorify God, for the life He gave to them, for the way they lived that life, and for what they shared with us while they were here. And anticipate that great reunion, when we shall never be separated from them again.

Posted by Warren Kelly at September 17, 2007 05:18 PM | TrackBack