Even the Darkness is Not Darkness to God

 

Where can I go from your spirit?
    Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
 If I take the wings of the morning
    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.
 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and night wraps itself around me,”[a]
 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

                                               Psalm 139:7-14 NRSVue

We know that for all the emphasis on the joy of Christmas or the Holiday Season or whatever we earnestly call it any more this can be a time of sadness and even anguish for many. Addiction is one of the reasons many families are in crisis through the holidays and a week ago this came to our suburban cul de sac with grim force. 

The restless 20-something son of a neighbour came home for a few weeks. His mother found him unconscious in a basement bathroom due to an overdose of drugs. The paramedics revived him but soon the hospital team realized that his brain function hadn't resumed. After several anxious days of bedside vigil the family made an agonizing decision to take him off life support and donate his organs.

A transplantation team arrived from Toronto and later that evening I joined them so we could hear a word of solace from scripture (a portion of Psalm 139), say a prayer, then gather around the bed to touch him during a farewell blessing. We followed the bed as it was wheeled down a hallway and disappeared through a set of doors to the ER. That stormy evening five organs were harvested to travel as far as British Columbia in order to provide others hope and the gift of life. 

No family should go through this. We can pray for these neighbours, others in similar circumstances, families who wonder where their loved ones are. They deserve our compassion and support, although they often suffer in shame and silence. 

We can pray that the God who embodied love in Jesus, the Christ, the God who knew human suffering with his Son, will be a source of courage and peace for everyone. 

Here is the blessing we shared: 

Depart in peace_____

In the name of God who created you:

in the name of Christ who redeemed you:

in the name of the Holy Spirits who is breath,

May you rest in peace, and dwell forever in God's mercy.