Sunday, December 2, 2007
"All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah 'Here is your God!' See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep."
Isaiah 40
Wes' Grandma Beverly died today. She went somewhat unexpectedly, but seemingly peacefully, for which we are thankful. Also, the last 6 months of her health issues and various health crises that each seemed to bring her to the brink of death have made me realize how much better it is to process death and say goodbyes while our loved ones are still living. I'm so thankful for the last two times we (and especially Wes) got to spend with Grandma Beverly; they were times of joy and laughter, and tears and sadness both. We will miss her.
Beverly's death today, on this first Sunday of Advent reminds me yet again that we perpetually sit in this season of expectation--this tension between the 'already' and the 'not yet.' This world is messy and broken. It's a world where old women have to struggle for each breath, where daughters say goodbye to their mothers, and where death seems permanent. And then there is a baby, an unassuming infant, whose birth shattered our world. What can the arrival of this Emmanual--God with us--mean for us on this day? As we wait for and remember Christ's birth, we also wait for him to come back again to make everything right. I'm so thankful for the breakthrough of our of Savior who's birth turned the world upside down and conquered death for us all. Advent reminds me that things are not as they will be and that God's work through Jesus isn't finished.
1 Comment:
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December 02, 2007
my condolences
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