In Memoriam

Nicky Boisse is alive.

He passed away on Tuesday, August 14, 2012 due to longstanding kidney and heart problems. His body was cremated; ashes are all that remains.

Nicky is not dead.

According to his obituary, Nicky was born 28 years ago, on September 19, 1983. But he, like every one of us, was born a dying man. It is the nature of the beast, of this universe we inhabit, that everyone and everything is in a constant state of decay. Though the actual ending may come suddenly and unexpectedly, it is invariably a slow death: We age. We become sick. Our hearts break. We feel pain. We cry.

Nicky will never cry again.

No person of this world ever has, and no one ever will, overcome death in its many forms. Not of their own effort, or through technology, or right living. We are powerless to change our fate. Our bodies, our homes, our gravestones, and even the entirety of Earth itself will eventually be gone. None of it will last forever.

Nicky will live forever.

If measured by this world alone, you might consider Nicky to have been unfortunate. 28 years seems like such a short time. Nicky served at The Porch, which is full of people about his age, and most people there do not really think that they will die this day, or this year, or even this decade. Someday, each of them will be wrong about that.

Nicky realized that he did not have power over death, but he also recognized that there was One who did. One who was in this world, but not of this world, and not bound to this world’s laws. The only One who has ever suffered through all of our pain, and trials, and death, and yet had the power to then bring His dead body back to life. Nicky knew this One with the power to defeat death, who has overcome the curse and offers the same to us out of His unfathomable goodness and love.

Nicky chose to accept this free gift years ago. And though this gift did not heal Nicky’s physical body or make it any less temporary, it did remove the power of such troubles and the ultimate power of death over him. Nicky’s time in this broken world was kept short, and those who knew him grieve for their own loss. But Nicky is not dead. He is finally fully alive.

Many of you will choose not to believe as Nicky did. Though he testified to its truth, you would claim it is a lie. You might even be willing to bet your life on your claim that Nicky is wrong. You are free to make that choice, but understand that is exactly what you are doing: betting your life. Because one thing is absolutely certain: you and Nicky cannot both be right. One of you will be dead wrong.

Nicky Boisse is alive. I hope you get a chance to meet him someday.

• Kevin