Somber Thoughts

A very dear friend of mine is going through this right now--her husband is in hospice, dying of cancer.

The phrase "There but for the grace of God" keeps going through my mind.  I know, in my heart, that this is something we all may have to face some day.  I pray for her, her family, and for a peaceful end for her husband.  

As I get older, thoughts of my mortality--and those I love--are with me daily. 

The problem is, I don't know how I would face this.  Do ANY of us know, unless (and until) we are faced with the same circumstances? Anyone who says they haven't thought of this is either in denial or is lying.  

I keep remembering something my Mom said to me, shortly before she died.  She had been very sick, and I thought we would lose her at that point.  We didn't--and later, when I told her this, she said "But honey--I wouldn't have KNOWN that I died." 

Think about this.  You have no conscious thought after death, so of course you are not aware that you have died.  For some strange reason, her words have comforted me in the years since her passing.  I also lost a very dear friend several years ago-more of a brother to me than my own family--and again, those words--"I wouldn't have known I died"......have been a comfort.  

Life is short, we have all heard these words.  We are leaves in a  river, going where the current takes us, and always hoping we will end up some place good.  It is not up to us, it is up to God.

Richard--I pray that wherever your final journey takes you, it is some place good.  Some place with oceans for you to sail on, the breeze at your back, the sun on your face.  Some place you can sail and be at peace. 

Some place you don't know you are dead.  Because you are not--you are reborn in Christ.

Sail on, dear man.