Brian's father Allen 1937-2019 |
Brian Brubaker is the oldest son of my friend Allen Brubaker, whose memorial service I attended last Saturday, along with hundreds of others. Brian, who was painfully absent due to his serving a sentence at the Augusta Correctional Center near Craigsville, has demonstrated a remarkably changed life, and has been a great blessing to his family and to countless others.
He wrote the following touching tribute to be read at the service:
Dear Friends and
Family:
It brings me deep
sorrow that I cannot be present today, but since I have received much
mercy and grace from my
father for the circumstances I find myself in, I want to at least
honor him by telling of his
ministry to me.
In recent years I’ve
gotten to know my father better. He has helped me learn that none of
us is perfect. Whatever
his own slight imperfections were, I value them because they brought
him to know his need for a
savior and he passed that onto his children.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited as being
one of the early authors of the thought that our brokenness is what
lets the light in. I know my
father had Christ’s light living within him, and he will now be
forever alive in Christ.
My life has been a
desert the last ten years, but my father truly lived Isaiah 35 as he
reached out to me and
brought me the light of Jesus.
“The wilderness
and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice and blossom.
Like the
crocus, it shall
blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing…
… Strengthen the
weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a
fearful heart, “Be
strong, do not fear, here is your God... he will come and save you.”
In some ways this is
happening already for me. My father treasured the body of Christ, and worked his whole
life for it. And now I am reaping the benefits of that work, because
many of you here today have
become Dad’s friends. Your visits and kindness to me have sustained
me and have answered
the promise of Isaiah 35.
May all our pain,
fear, and discomfort be lost in the love of Jesus.
Your Kingdom Highway
Companion.
Brian
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