Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same
If I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on
'Cause I know I don't belong here in heaven
Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven?
I'll find my way through night and day
'Cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven?
I'll find my way through night and day
'Cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven
Tears in Heaven -- Eric Clapton
We enjoyed a visit last week from a Swiss fellow we met on the Azores in September. Randy enjoyed a long career as a professional musician and was in Canada to pick up a remarkable custom-crafted viola da gamba in Montreal. Over dinner we discovered that while he made a living playing baroque music he enjoys pop and rock as his "easy listening." Brother Eric played one of his favourites, Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven for him, a song the rock star wrote in response to the tragic death of his son.
Will we know each other in the life to come? My grandmother died when my mother was sixteen, a great loss for their family. When Mom died recently was she reunited with her after nearly eighty years?
At his funeral George W Bush gave a touching tribute to his late father, George H W Bush and choked up with emotion as he expressed the hope that his father would be welcomed by his late mother, Barbara, and a sister who died as a child.
Perhaps most touching recently was the sweet response of a British postal employee to a seven-year-old boy who'd written to his deceased father.
This story brought tears to my eyes, but I was immediately concerned about the longer term effect of this response. I must admit that I'm an agnostic in this regard. I do live with resurrection hope, yet I'm long on conviction and short on detail. Jesus didn't promise that we'd be reunited with loved ones, nor did Paul, although Jesus spoke of his Father's house with many rooms and Paul referred to a cloud of witnesses. Jesus went so far as to tell some religious leaders who were mocking the notion of being married to multiple people in heaven that they just didn't get what the resurrection life would be like.
In the end we are all seeking comfort and solace when we experience loss. Perhaps we will all experience a glorious reunion. I would happily see my recently departed Mom again, although there are others I could definitely live for eternity without. While we "see through a glass darkly" on this side of the veil we can trust that God's love in Christ will welcome us home.
What do you figure folks?
We enjoyed a visit last week from a Swiss fellow we met on the Azores in September. Randy enjoyed a long career as a professional musician and was in Canada to pick up a remarkable custom-crafted viola da gamba in Montreal. Over dinner we discovered that while he made a living playing baroque music he enjoys pop and rock as his "easy listening." Brother Eric played one of his favourites, Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven for him, a song the rock star wrote in response to the tragic death of his son.
Will we know each other in the life to come? My grandmother died when my mother was sixteen, a great loss for their family. When Mom died recently was she reunited with her after nearly eighty years?
At his funeral George W Bush gave a touching tribute to his late father, George H W Bush and choked up with emotion as he expressed the hope that his father would be welcomed by his late mother, Barbara, and a sister who died as a child.
Perhaps most touching recently was the sweet response of a British postal employee to a seven-year-old boy who'd written to his deceased father.
This story brought tears to my eyes, but I was immediately concerned about the longer term effect of this response. I must admit that I'm an agnostic in this regard. I do live with resurrection hope, yet I'm long on conviction and short on detail. Jesus didn't promise that we'd be reunited with loved ones, nor did Paul, although Jesus spoke of his Father's house with many rooms and Paul referred to a cloud of witnesses. Jesus went so far as to tell some religious leaders who were mocking the notion of being married to multiple people in heaven that they just didn't get what the resurrection life would be like.
In the end we are all seeking comfort and solace when we experience loss. Perhaps we will all experience a glorious reunion. I would happily see my recently departed Mom again, although there are others I could definitely live for eternity without. While we "see through a glass darkly" on this side of the veil we can trust that God's love in Christ will welcome us home.
What do you figure folks?
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