The Cycle of Life
Last Sunday we babtized Cannon Joseph at church. Baptisms are on of my favorite things to do. Usually there are family and friends present to support the parents and there is a joyful feeling in the room. With infants like Cannon it is a time of hope and promise and grace. Our focus in the liturgy is on the grace of God, the claiming by God of the one being baptised as one of God's own. Those of us in the congregation plegde our prayers and support for the infant and for the parents as the journey of faith is begun. It is a good, rich time, flush with the fullness of God's
love and the promise of a life just beginning to unfold.
That afternoon I went by a nursing home to visit one of our members near death. he wasn't really able to talk, and in fact slept most of the 30 minutes that I was there. John knew tht he was dying and had been able to talk about his coming death with some close friends. Many of us are not that brave and fortunate. He was as ready for death as I think you can be. The word came the next day - John died early in Monday afternoon. the funeral was today. The sermon was given by an Eppiscopal priest who had known John well over many years, and it was supurb. there was grace evident in John's death and funeral every bit as much as there had been in Cannon's baptism. The gift of being able to talk honestly about his dying. The gift of friends who stood by, loving John in these last days. The gift of a moving service. The gift of God's presence in the midst of it all.
It is good that we are known and loved by God from the begining of our lives to their end, and beyond. We have experienced that remarkable steadfast love this week.
Jimmy
love and the promise of a life just beginning to unfold.
That afternoon I went by a nursing home to visit one of our members near death. he wasn't really able to talk, and in fact slept most of the 30 minutes that I was there. John knew tht he was dying and had been able to talk about his coming death with some close friends. Many of us are not that brave and fortunate. He was as ready for death as I think you can be. The word came the next day - John died early in Monday afternoon. the funeral was today. The sermon was given by an Eppiscopal priest who had known John well over many years, and it was supurb. there was grace evident in John's death and funeral every bit as much as there had been in Cannon's baptism. The gift of being able to talk honestly about his dying. The gift of friends who stood by, loving John in these last days. The gift of a moving service. The gift of God's presence in the midst of it all.
It is good that we are known and loved by God from the begining of our lives to their end, and beyond. We have experienced that remarkable steadfast love this week.
Jimmy
posted by Jimmy at 12:32 PM
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