It's been a week of funerals, and I'm pretty worn out myself. My uncle Laney, my mom's older brother, passed away on Sunday, just one month shy of his 96th birthday. (Or as he would have said, 69th birthday.) Then the father of a dear friend passed away mid-week, and I'm glad to say I was able to be there to pay my respects, and help where I could, and just be there when I couldn't do more.
This has also been a week of celebration, leading the opening worship service for Annual Conference of the Southern Methodist Church. Getting together with friends and family, even in sad times, and laughing at ourselves. A sadness in our joy, and a joy in our sadness. And so goes life.
The unifying thread in all this is God. God's presence in those funerals, not to diminish the sorrow, and make it disingenuous, but to allow it, support it, and more so, to share in it. God's presence in worship, as men and women gather for the serious task of determining how the church shall proceed in the coming year, and finding God not a task master, but a shepherd. In His love given to us, and us to Him, and multiplied by sharing with each other.
And so (should) go life. Spend time loving God, and letting Him love you. Spend time loving others, and letting others love you. Me, I'm going to spend time in a nap in the not too distant future. Faith. Hope. Love.
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