This Last Day of 2015 We Will Gather to Mourn and Celebrate a Life

It's been 29 months. 

Well. 

The other day. 

And I could barely get out of my own way. 

The whole day. 

The sadness overwhelming. 

But not for me. 

Not for my journey. 

For my Sister in law and her family. 

For a family in our Community.

A father of 4. 
On Christmas Eve. 

A beloved husband. 

And I wept. 

Repeatedly. 

For the journey they are on. 

For a love cherished and honored through the years. 

Bearing 4 beautiful children. 

Athletes and scholars. 

For the wake where they will stand watch. 

Where this Community will come. 

One after the other to walk with them. 

And I wept. 

Because loss is so hard. 

We are a people not meant for death. 

No!

 We were meant for life. 
A story written long ago. 

John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Life ever lasting. 

And that is the final word. 

The message of this Season. 

The hope for all nations. 

The Incarnate. 

God put on flesh. 

To give. 

So that we might live. 
Even in hard times. 

We are not meant for death and we recoil. 

The sharp sting. 

Permeating. 

Tearing. 

Piercing. 

Until the time. 

When all will be set straight. 

Romans 14:11
It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.'"

So when 29 months rolled around. 

I prayed. 

And sank low; knees to the floor. 

Crying out. 

Seeking comfort where the only true comfort can be found. 

Seeking the peace that passes all understanding. 
Digging deep. 


John 14:2
My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

Remembering the Promises of that Ancient Word. 

My heart and soul ache for this family. 
I don't understand. 

On this last day of 2015 we will gather together. 
To celebrate this man's life. 
To mourn and grieve for the deep crushing ache. 

But I do know, beyond a shadow of a doubt,
that we are held. 
That the holy of holies came as a babe;
For us. 
That we might live. 
Because death will never, ever, ever have the final answer. 

I Corinthians 15:54
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory.""Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

Natalie Grant
Held

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We'd be held
This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive