There are a great many wonderful things whose workings I don’t understand, but I trust them to operate as promised.  I’ve just turned on this computer and letters are appearing on this screen when I push buttons just like they are supposed to. 

In a few minutes, I’ll push more buttons which will send this piece to another computer at Creighton which, in turn, will send it into cyberspace so people at other computers can access it. 

I don’t understand how it happens but it does. 

That’s the way that I approach today’s readings.  Both God’s covenant with Abraham and Jesus’ promise that if we are true to his words, we will never see death, are beyond my understanding.  But in faith, I trust that they are true. 

However even if I trust many things that I don’t fully understand, I’m not totally gullible.  I look for evidence that supports the truth of my beliefs.  For example, I know that the Internet is real and worldwide because almost every time I write a reflection, I get at least one response from somewhere thousands of miles from Omaha – India, Africa, Hong Kong, the Philippines etc. 

We don’t have such tangible evidence in the case of the promises of today’s readings, but life is full of hints that death will not have the final word if we believe.  I see such evidence in the way believers help other people overcome the “deaths” of daily life. 

I’m thinking of people like:

• A priest whose extra efforts to personalize a funeral homily for an elderly parishioner brought great comfort to her daughter, my close friend. 

• My friend Tom who is helping a former co-worker cope with the loss of his longtime corporate job.

• My daughter's school counselor, Kathy, whose wisdom and compassion gets so many teenage girls and their mothers through the various “deaths” of adolescence.