As big a fan as I am of Rob Bell, there's one Nooma video that I just never could watch. Episode #12, Matthew.

I guess it's just that I couldn't really related to it. I had never unexpectedly lost someone that I was more than just an acquaintance with. I guess I really should consider myself very fortunate. Death has not been anything that I've had to deal with in a long time. Two of my grandparents died when I was in high school and that affected me, but not in this way. I had another grandparent that I wasn't close to die in college. Didn't really affect me. But hearing yesterday that my friend Matt Miller had died hit me like a ton of bricks.

I knew Matt through working with him at Camp Sumatanga. There's just something about the friendships that are forged in those circumstances. The intensity of a weeklong camp has the effect of hanging out with someone for a month. Sharing a religious experience like that create a bond of friendship that is stronger than most any other I've experienced.

Matt was in Memphis during the week attending Memphis Theological Seminary, so he and I would have lunch from time to time, talking about our mutual love for the Crimson Tide and Sumatanga and more. On Wednesday, he was over at our house, telling us stories of his crazy experiences as a church pastor who moonlights as the Assistant Chief of Police in rural Alabama over a bottle of wine and some steaks. Three days later, he was gone, having drowned in a duck hunting accident in Arkansas.

As I read through the comments posted on his Wall on Facebook last night and through the status updates of our mutual friends, it made me wonder if he knew how loved and respected he was. Maybe we should all take the time to let the people in our lives know how we really feel about them while we still have a chance.

Nooma - Matthew - Rob Bell

Suffering the loss of a loved one can be the most difficult thing we face. Sometimes all the reasoning and comforting words in the world just aren’t what we need. What might help us, however, is to understand how Jesus dealt with this kind of loss.

Nooma - Matthew 1 of 2:

Nooma - Matthew 2 of 2: