In life, in death, in life beyond death
God is with us, we are not alone.
Thanks be to God
United Church Statement of Faith
This morning our younger daughter got word that the father of one of her closest friends had died through the night. An active and robust man, probably in his late forties, he suffered a stroke on Saturday. It was so massive that he never had a chance for recovery and his family is devastated by his loss.
From time to time through the years I have been called upon to respond pastorally to those who have experienced sudden and untimely deaths. The worst may have been a family who lost a young child who died because his throat swelled shut as an allergic reaction. His mother responded to his calls in the night and calmed him down and back to sleep. When she went to him in the morning he was gone.
What can we say? These are the times when life seems so unfair and we are left wondering where God has been. I have no real answers other than my sometimes shaky conviction that God never abandons or foresakes us.
I keep coming back to the prayer which I often use in funeral and memorial services which includes the words "since we have been but a hair's breadth from death since birth, teach us how breathlessly close we are to life in all its fullness."
God is present at these times even though we do not know it. When my sister-in-law died at a very early age I prayed for the strength to cope. Even when I thought there was no more strength in me to be a support to my husband and his family, that strength was there.
ReplyDeleteHow important it is for us all to value each breath.
Thanks Nancy
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