2002
The Voice: Spring 2002
Notes from the Alumni Office
Homecoming at Dordt has come and gone once again. It’s important to “go
home” from time to time to reconnect with the people and places that
make us who we are. Whether it’s a visit to our parental home
or a trip back to campus, homecomings are an opportunity to renew the
sense of security and belonging associated with “home.”
The Christian life is often referred to as a spiritual journey and death
as a heavenly “homecoming.” I wonder how many of us anticipate that homecoming
in the same way that we look forward to coming home to the
places of our past. And isn’t it ironic that going someplace we’ve never
been before is referred to as a homecoming?
In recent months we’ve learned about several of the Dordt alumni community who’ve
gone home—some suddenly and tragically, some after a struggle with disease, but all
prematurely by our human calculations. When our life journeys take such unanticipated turns,
it can test our faith and leave us wondering, “Where is God?” and
“Why does he let these things happen to his children?” The faith principles
that seemed so solid are shaken and tested.
Peter Meyer (’83) faces just such a test. Diagnosed with a rare cancer
two and a half years ago, he has shared the progression of the
disease as well as his faith with his professor and mentor, Dr. John
Visser. Graciously, Peter allowed us to share his journey with you.
One of the faith tenets that impressed me as a Dordt student—and the
one that continues to be a challenge for me to fully live out—is
the fact that we’re living in the time between Christ’s first and second
comings—in the tension of “the present, yet coming kingdom.” Like Peter Meyer, I
love the life I know, and usually fail to live in the anticipation
of Christ’s second coming and the new heaven and earth. Regretfully, it is
life’s unexpected turns and detours that often leave me longing for Christ’s return,
rather than a daily, heartfelt prayer for Christ’s kingdom to come. I pray
that your journey has you walking in a meaningful relationship with the Lord
and anticipating homecoming.
