The Gift of Life—A Remembrance of Junius Dotson

“.… you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3: 19c

 We began the season of Lent with the imposition of ashes. This liturgical act reminds us of our creation, our humanity, and the inevitability of our deaths. It always inspires in me a sense of awe at life--a sense that life is incredibly precious, our time on this earth incredibly short—every breath, every touch, every relationship a gift.

We have all been reminded of the gift of life as we have mourned the unfathomable numbers of deaths from COVID-19. We mourn the sheer breadth of the loss even as we mourn the individuals we have known personally. Each one was a gift—each a precious life.

The sense that every life is a gift—the sense of loss we feel when that gift slips away, is especially close today as we mourn the death of the Rev. Junius Dotson. Junius served on the Connectional Table in his role as the General Secretary of Discipleship Ministries. He brought an innovative spirit to the CT’s Strategic Team and great wisdom to our Executive Committee. He was a bright spirit in our midst, always reminding us to “See All the People” God has called us to reach.

 About a month ago, Junius shared that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He headed to Houston, where he is from, and sought experimental treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. He was determined to fight, and so many prayed that he would win that fight. We prayed for him at our CT meeting on February 4, and many others have prayed without ceasing. Yet, Junius succumbed to his illness. God called him home on February 24, 2021 at the age of 55. 

Please keep Junius’ family, friends and colleagues in prayer. Please keep in prayer the staff and board members of Discipleship Ministries as they mourn this loss. Please pray for members of the General Secretaries Table.

We will all miss Junius. His life was a gift to each of us--his time on earth far too short. But he was, like us, human. From dust he came, and to dust we all shall return.

Yet, even as we mourn this inevitability, we also celebrate the surety of a resurrected life in Christ—Junius’ resurrected life and one day ours. As Jesus once said,  “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” John 11: 25-26