I went to a funeral on Friday; I drove my Mom and my sister
to Surrey, a city where we lived for a short while. We did not live in the city but on the
outskirts, in a neighbourhood where everyone knew everyone. I was very little then, and we moved away
before I was in school but a bit of our soul stayed there on that street, not
so much in the house as in the yard, the yard where the edge of ours backed on
to the edge of another. In that other
yard lived our friends whom for a time, even after we moved were a part of our
lives, our hearts and souls living there still…in memories.
Now these memories came flooding back as we were reminded of
those days, those people, those heart and soul friends and their stories. The lady who died, lived in that house whose
yard touched the edge of ours, her name was Mary and she was my mother’s friend,
it was an honor to go to say good bye.
The priest there said to us “There is one thing as humans that
we all have in common and this commonality starts from conception in the
womb. It is not that we need food, or
drink, or the way our bones are put together or the way we move, it is not that
we speak or see or feel…it is that we will all die.” This is hard for us to accept, we all want to
live, and we think that this is what we will do, but we will die, we don’t know
when, how or where...we all will die.
I remember hearing a story from a woman who was dying, she
spoke in front of a ladies group to share her struggles and the hope she
carried even with the knowledge that she did not have much longer to live...from the depths of her frailty, she
said “I am dying, but so are you.”
My husband’s Aunt is dying; she is laying in a hospital bed
breathing in the last of the air that God has given to her. Aunt Katie doesn’t know anymore who we are or even
if we are there, but we know her, she is the sweetest lady and we all have loved
her. The dearest Aunt is dying.
God has made us this way, but He has given us a promise that
we will not be alone.
The LORD himself goes
before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do
not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
Deuteronomy 31:8
This is our blessed hope, we will not be alone, we only need
to ask the way…show me.
I found this song on my playlist, it was the closest I had to an old hymn, the kind of music she likes. I turned the volume up just so, and gently placed it on the pillow near my Aunt's ear, hoping she could hear, that she could soak up the words and melt away on them, words that could comfort her heart and soul and let her know that she is not alone. I know she's not afraid, she knows that He is with her...that He is getting ready to show her the way home.
