Good morning…
On Thursday I held hands and exchanged words with a friend who had cancer in the lining of her stomach. Before I left her peaceful home, her only son shared, “I think she has about two more weeks.” Two days later, I received the text saying she had died. Our wise, gentle friend celebrated this Mother’s Day in heaven with her daughter, who died years ago in a tragic car accident, and her husband, who passed away during the pandemic, along with many, many loved ones who have gone before. On earth she will be deeply missed.
Then on Mother’s Day morning my husband and I woke to texts about our twenty-year-old friend who has been fighting for his life in the hospital since early March. Before we went to church, his body went into cardiac arrest and his soul went on to rest in his forever home, as …the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7, NIV). Privileged to be this young man’s high school chaplain, my husband will share thoughts with the family and friends who gather for his funeral on Friday. What grueling grief lies ahead.
Now I am up in the middle of the night pondering the thin veil between earth and heaven. Here one moment and there the next, yet eternally bonded forever and ever. Things that are incomprehensible for us humans are embraced fully by the open arms of God. He has made everything suited to its time; also, he has given human beings an awareness of eternity; but in such a way that they can’t fully comprehend, from beginning to end, the things God does (Ecclesiastes 3:11, CJB).
From this side of the thin veil we can’t understand, from beginning to end, the things God graciously does.
…Sue…
