Good morning…
He sent me a poem last week, a poem giving voice to our shocking loss, now a poem speaking truth in the wake of a school shooting, and, years back, a poem ringing true on the day it was written by a 12th-century Jewish poet.
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‘Tis A Fearful Thing by Yehuda HaLevi (1075 – 1141)
‘Tis a fearful thing
to love what death can touch.
A fearful thing
to love, to hope, to dream, to be –
to be,
And oh, to lose.
A thing for fools, this,
And a holy thing,
a holy thing
to love.
For your life has lived in me,
your laugh once lifted me,
your word was gift to me.
To remember this brings painful joy.
‘Tis a human thing, love,
a holy thing, to love
what death has touched.
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We have loved lives that live in us, we savor laughter that lifted us, and we cherish words once gifted us. Experiencing together painful joy, it is a human thing, a holy thing, to love what death has touched. Christ meets us here and gives us hope: death is not the end of God’s story.
What does not last will be dressed with what lasts forever. What dies will be dressed with what does not die (1 Corinthians 15:54, NIRV).
…Sue…
