Au Revoir
Au revoir. French, meaning “goodbye until we meet again…”
Recently a pillar from our church died. He was a larger than life character who loved God, his family and sharing God’s love with others. While he had a long and successful life, he will be missed by all. One of our dear friends shared a story about him: Many years earlier our friend was introducing this gentleman to her son, “Here was one of Granddad’s dearest friends.” (Her father, the boy’s grandfather had passed away years earlier.) To which the gentleman corrected her (in his recognizable booming “outside” voice), “NO. Not WAS. Our friendship isn’t over. I am just waiting until I see him again.”
As our dear friend shared, that comment has always stayed with her. I, too like that comment. It helps keep in perspective the long view that we should have of our lives. Yes, we have a beginning when God formed us but we don’t have a finite ending as long as we believe in our future with Christ. Our physical bodies may end in this temporal world but we have the choice to live in a future that has no end. To be reconciled with the Creator of all and to live in harmony as El intended. We will meet again, all who have come before us and all who come after.
Once again life is a paradox: we can only know what we are experiencing in the current moment yet we need to see life in its expansive longview. While we may only know this current experience, we do not have to be limited by that experience. Life is so much more and so much longer than we can imagine. How we view our lives (read individual, limited lives) can be scaled up to how we live our LIVES- (read universal, more eternal timeframe).
Just as mindfulness is to experience each moment (minute and hour) without worry of the past or concern for future planning, in a “cosmic” mindfulness we need to live intentionally each day and be aware of our lives here on earth- what transpires between the dashes of birth and death. To make the most of the time we are given.
Yet we need also to be aware that there is life after death and that those who have gone are not gone forever, just out of our immediate lives for now. While we do not know what the post-death future looks like, we can believe that there is something for us.
On Sunday, the Blessing at the end of the church service reminded me of these two tensions: living our daily lives to the fullest yet trusting in our eternity:
Life is short and we have too little time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. So, be swift to love and make haste to be kind, and may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirt be with you now and remain with you forever. Amen.
Au revoir. What a great expression to remember that we WILL meet our loved ones again someday.
Easter Ending
Do you read the end of the book first?
When I am in the middle of a good novel, I sometimes (ok. I admit it. almost always) will read the final pages. It doesn't spoil any surprise for me. I guess I do it so that I won't receive any unexpected surprises in my read. Looking back I think it stems from my childhood. I was enthralled with Louisa May Alcott's characters in Little Women, Little Men and Jo's Boys. As all young romantics I wanted Jo to marry Laurie. I had asked one of my older sisters if that was the case. In typical sibling fashion she didn't want to tell me and after much pestering she said yes. (You can see the scene- older, teenaged girl wanting to get rid of the pesky little squirt, so she is told what she wanted to hear.) Boy was I surprised and shocked when Laurie married Beth. *****
As a life long Christ follower I have experienced many Holy Weeks and Easters. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday are somber and reflective days. Time to ponder and think about the sacrifice of Christ, what that means to our lives, how we live those lives and how we can commit to honor Him.
But I have trouble being that somber. For I know the rest of the story. Jesus is not buried in the tomb. There is no grave marker to visit. Jesus is ALIVE. He conquered death in order for those who believe in Him to live eternal lives with the Creator. To live as God intended us to live in the first place- choosing Him, living a life that honors him and eventually living a life of eternal praise and worship.
In this case, because I know the rest of the story it does impact the "story of my life": loving God and loving others. Certainly there are surprises along the way. Situations, experiences and people that change and shape the direction of the plot yet I know the final scene. It gives me great comfort and great assurance.
What about you? Do you read the back of the novel first? How does that impact your experience in reading the book?
If you don't know Christ, what do you need to make His acquaintance? If you knew that you were going to Heaven when you died, how would that change the way you currently live?
I would encourage you to visit a local church this Easter. Generally churches are pretty full on Easter so if you are shy about going, it would be easy to slip in and just experience the service.
Try it. Read the final pages first. Happy Easter this Sunday.
***** Correction: Pointed out by one of my faithful readers and dearest friend. Laurie married Amy (the spoiled youngest). Beth was the one who died from scarlet fever (I had thought it was consumption). Obviously my remembering skills are lacking!
