JOY! It is the third week of Advent, the week of joy and today was a day of Joy for me. I had a wonderful lunch with long time friends. There is something really wonderful about seeing people once a year to find out what they are doing, how their families have grown or changed and how God is working in their lives.
These are people I worked with in what now seems like another life yet is so connected to this one. These are all people who cared about each other when we worked together and are still loving, caring people. It is so good at this time of year to remember that goodness abounds, love is constant and joy can be found in retelling old stories.
Thank you my friends for remembering me in your busy lives. May the joy of the Advent Season be with you all year long.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Last Breath
There is something incredibly honorable about being present for a last breath. There is sadness in the realization that there will be no more breaths but a certain peacefulness in knowing that while this life has ended a new eternal life is beginning.
This week two lives ended only hours apart. Each one fought for life for the past three years, always trying to do more, to live more, to be more for the families they loved. Each one a caring husband and father. Each one close to the God they knew even more intimately these last few years.
The families are sad, wondering about ongoing living with this man who cared for them over the years. The families are at peace knowing the struggle for living is over, the body and the disease that robbed them of life on earth lost a battle for their soul. God is joyful with the reception in heaven, in eternity for two men who lived life fully.
It is the time of Advent, waiting for the Christ child, waiting for the presence of the baby who came so long ago and yet returns in our celebration every year. It is the time when we remember the baby who grew to be a man and like these two men faced death. A different death but one that still robbed him of life on earth. It is because of his death, Christ the Lord, that the other two men have the opportunity to live eternally in the presence of the one we celebrate.
As you remember those you have lost over the years to death, also remember the love of Christ, the waiting for the child, who grew to be the man, who died so that all of us will live. Love came down at Christmas and never left.
Blessings and peace for this second week of Advent.
This week two lives ended only hours apart. Each one fought for life for the past three years, always trying to do more, to live more, to be more for the families they loved. Each one a caring husband and father. Each one close to the God they knew even more intimately these last few years.
The families are sad, wondering about ongoing living with this man who cared for them over the years. The families are at peace knowing the struggle for living is over, the body and the disease that robbed them of life on earth lost a battle for their soul. God is joyful with the reception in heaven, in eternity for two men who lived life fully.
It is the time of Advent, waiting for the Christ child, waiting for the presence of the baby who came so long ago and yet returns in our celebration every year. It is the time when we remember the baby who grew to be a man and like these two men faced death. A different death but one that still robbed him of life on earth. It is because of his death, Christ the Lord, that the other two men have the opportunity to live eternally in the presence of the one we celebrate.
As you remember those you have lost over the years to death, also remember the love of Christ, the waiting for the child, who grew to be the man, who died so that all of us will live. Love came down at Christmas and never left.
Blessings and peace for this second week of Advent.
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