+ “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” This portion of Psalm 34 was the reading in a one of Cheryl’s daily meditation books on the day Richard took the fall that led to his death. How fitting, for Richard Cox was a lion of a man, who even in the great weakness of his final moments of this life, lacked no good thing.
Speaking of lions….on the day he died, Richard’s breathing grew nearly imperceptible and yet his heart beat on. Finally that incredible heart stopped. I remarked to one of the chaplains present how amazing I found it that in spite of not breathing, his heart continued to beat. He said to me, “It’s the men of the Greatest Generation, they’re lion hearts.
A lion heart…what an apt description for Richard Cox. He was a man with the heart of a lion and the smile of a cub.
Even the ravages of disease and age could not and did not diminish his stature and presence. As a matter of fact, Cheryl marveled at how over the years, Richard could turn the tables on the doctors who treated him. The doctor would come into the treatment room, ready to be The Doctor. After a few minutes the roles would change and suddenly the doctor would be the student and Richard would be the teacher. Oh the doctor still treated him, but the respect Richard gained by virtue of how he carried himself in the world, was palpable. And amazing. Yes,the heart of a lion and the smile of a cub.
Richard Cox was a lion heart, a gentleman, a scholar and the Captain of his ship.
As he often remarked to Cheryl HE WAS THE CAPTAIN and she was the first mate. And the rest of you, especially his children and grandchildren? You were his precious cargo. It’s a good metaphor.
The Captain never ever abandons the ship. The Captain never ever wavers in his command. The captain is in charge, the captain is the leader. …The Captain bears a striking resemblance to the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd never gives up. The Good Shepherd never abandons those in his charge. The Good Shepherd goes to any length needed to fulfill his responsibility to his sheep.
Richard Cox, World War 2 veteran, devoted father, grandfather, friend, companion, scholar and student, faithful child of God with the heart of a lion, was most definitely the captain of his ship, the shepherd of his flock. Richard was in charge. Always.
He demanded competence and expected excellence of all those around him. That may not have always been easy, but it was probably the purest example of love any of you will ever experience.
And you know what? I think in these expectations Richard shared quite a lot with God. God doesn’t expect us to do half measures. God expects us, God created us to do much more than that. God expects us to give our best in all and for all. So did Richard.
I think God as The Good Shepherd and Richard the Captain of the Cox Family ship have a lot in common.
Can you imagine that first face to face meeting between Richard and his Creator? Oh, I bet it was epic. No doubt he had a lot of questions for the Almighty.
And probably a lot of suggestions as well.
Richard, a Presbyterian turned Lutheran turned Episcopalian definitely had faith…but he had one frustration, maybe even a disappointment in his faith journey. As he told Cheryl, he struggled with the fact that he never experienced a personal encounter with Jesus. Now I’m not sure what Richard meant by that, but what I do know is that as he made his journey into the fullness of God I think he was surprised. For I have no doubt that Jesus himself welcomed him and proceeded to show Richard all the times He was with him. In Europe during WW2 when Richard, the army marksman, was frightened, Jesus the Good Shepherd was there. At the birth of each of his children, when Richard was, no doubt, full of nervousness and uncertainty, The Good Shepherd was there.
When the demands of life in academia became intense, the Good Shepherd was there. When he faced the reality of what the Parkinson’s disease was doing to his body, the Good Shepherd was there.
At every crossroads of a life lived long and well, God was there. At every crossroads of a life lived long and well, Jesus was there. And at every crossroads of his 90 years on this earth, Richard Cox, the Captain of the ship was guided, loved, cherished, protected and prodded by the Good Shepherd.
Oh yes, how I wish I had been a fly on heaven’s wall as Richard, the lion-heart, the captain of his ship encountered his God face to face and found out that while Richard’s hand had been on the tillar of the Cox family ship lo these 90 years, he Richard Howard Cox was, in actuality serving as the First Mate to the Creator, the Redeemer and the Sustainer of us all—
You see this is the great lesson of our faith in the Resurrection---life for Richard has changed, not ended. For Richard life has now been fully revealed. All his questions have been answered, all his criticisms have been heard and all his frustrations have been calmed. His intense intellectual curiosity has been both peaked and satisfied. Today, as Richard takes his eternal seat at the Heavenly Banquet he is both the teacher and the student, he is both the Shepherd and the Sheep, he is both the Captain and the First Mate, for in the full presence of God, Richard your father, grandfather, companion, brother, friend, and teacher is complete. +
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