Like so many, I have lost people very dear to me. The most recent was a dear friend and an amazing man. He died suddenly and tragically: he drowned during a family reunion trip. The fact that he was very fit and athletic just added maddening irony to the whole thing!
A week or so after it happened, I drove to the location, sat on the shore, and talked to both him and God. It was rough, but it was helpful too. While making my way through the stages of grief, I found comfort in God's word:
The righteous perish,
and no one takes it to heart;
the devout are taken away,
and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.
(Isaiah 57:1)
Pondering this verse and my friend's death led me to a recent theory that some people do, in fact, "arrive;" and, like Elijah, soon after get to go home younger than the rest of us. (I've already shared this in more detail via a "Note" on my Facebook; so, I will leave it at that for now.)
When I sit and think about my friend Tom, it still brings tears. I know, though, that when I get to heaven, I will see him again...and "what a day of rejoicing that will be!"
I lost a dear and amazing man, a licensed sailor and scuba diver, who drowned. I struggle, I comfort in the Truth, I miss him everyday, I heal. The best work we can do, for ourselves or in whatever context of 'God' we Love; is do that healing work. Their spirits are free, to toxify ours in 'their name' is blasphemy in any religion. XO~
ReplyDelete"to toxify ours in 'their name' is blasphemy in any religion."
ReplyDeleteHear-frickin'-hear! :D