Death.
It is not something we talk about much in the West.
Or think about.
Or know about.
It is certainly not something we want to happen to us. Especially not those close to us like our families, friends, and loved ones.
‘Why?’ we cry. ‘ Why me?’ ‘Why did my beloved have to be taken from me?’ ‘Why is God punishing me?’
How certain we are that God is punishing us when things don’t go according to plan; the plan we figured for our lives.
Yet, death comes to us all. This is the one thing we can be sure of in this life.
It is just… well… it can be so inconsiderate. Inconvenient even.
Like when death takes a young mother from the bosom of her family. So inconsiderate when hubby goes to work and meets his final moments there as happens with policemen and soldiers. So inconsiderate when a newly married couple on their honeymoon meet their end before they have even had a taste of married life. So inconsiderate when … I am sure you have your own examples from when the hand of death touched your life somehow, somewhere.
It can seem unfair. It is always sad. Tragic. A loss. A shock. Devastating. And for some, unbearable. Life is never the same afterwards. You can but learn to live with it.
Even when someone has been gone a long time, there are times when you feel their loss more keenly. Festive times, birthdays, anniversaries and those big milestones in life.
Heaven has another angel.
My friend Penny has been fighting cancer for a long time. Bravely. Courageously. Tenaciously. An inspiration to us all and especially to those who fought the same fight.
Now she is free. Free from pain. Free from the confines of an earthly body. Free from suffering.
How she loved life!
She taught my ex-husband and me ballroom dancing so we could dance ‘properly’ at our wedding.
She had a fun sense of humour; always ready for a laugh and a joke. She could use everything and everyone as a butt for a joke. No one escaped her pithy and witty comments. But it was her wonderful repartee that clinched it for me. It was a brave soul who dared enter the banter when she was in full flow. They were seldom able to stay the course. I never dared. Too chicken; simply observed from the sides, enjoying the moment.
Most of all, she was there when you needed her.
So now you’re gone, my friend. Gone from this earth, but not gone from our memories. Your spirit lives on. Like A Course in Miracles says ‘There is no death. The Son of God is free.’
So I found something else for you; a poem by J.L. McCreery called There is no death.
I particularly like
There is no death! Although we grieve
When beautiful, familiar forms
That we have learned to love are torn
From our embracing arms–
Although with bowed and breaking heart,
With sable garb and silent tread,
We bear their senseless dust to rest,
And say that they are “dead,”
They are not dead! They have but passed
Beyond the mists that blind us here
Into the new and larger life
Of that serener sphere.
I hope you do too.
Rest in peace. I have asked the Angels to take care of you, and show you the way around your new home.
Gmf… like you need it. Probably giving them lip already!
And I have asked them to take care of those you loved with all your heart and still do. The love you shared will carry them through.
Continue to shine your love from afar, that other shore; shine forevermore, bright in heaven’s jewelled crown.
Love you lots.
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