A Splendid Torch

 It occurs to me that my last 3 posts have somehow dealt more with death and remembrance than usual... In the last week or so, we have mourned with a sweet family on the sudden loss of their mom, we have "run the race" with Travis as he  honored the memory of 2 firefighters who gave their lives fighting a church blaze, and on Memorial Day, we thanked the many military families who gave their all protecting this great country.

Death.  It comes in many ways.  Some know their fate and meet it head on.  To some, it comes unexpectedly and suddenly.  To all, it comes eventually.  And we mourn.  Grieve for the one we miss so desparately.  For lost moments.  For what could have been.  Always, we mourn.

And yet, my heart still beats with the message that Death for the Believer is one of Glorious Homecoming, a moment immeasurably Beautiful and Holy.  Not to be feared, nor grieved.  A blessing to the soul gaining Paradise, a Comfort and Peace to the loved ones left behind.

This would be the flip side of our mourning.  It is the conversation I want to have with my family.  An intentional discussion to let them know that just as I have embraced Life, so will I embrace Death.  I want them to remember the words I have spoken, that I am in a place of incomparable Magnificence, a place I have been journeying to all my life...

And today, I found a kindred spirit in George Bernard Shaw.  He speaks to this message so much more eloquently than I:

"This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.  Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.  I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.  I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live.  I rejoice in life for its own sake.  Life is no brief candle to me: it is sort of a splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

May your torch burn brightly as you journey this life!

Finding Grace in every Moment, Jane