Mary

The sweetest Lady died Sunday morning, the Lords day.  She had been lying in a hospital bed for the better part of a month, her family surrounding her, loving her taking care of her and praying with her.  The tasting of death for all of them…waiting, holding on to God, breathing in and out and in, sharing these last days of life.

Mary was looking forward to seeing her Lord, being with Him and the others, those who had gone before her; friends, family, her husband John.  Yes, Mary was waiting too, to see John again.

Mary reminds me of another lady, one from a movie, a love story…her name was Rose.  You know the movie, it was called Titanic.  Rose falls in love with Jack, but he dies before her, though she mourns his loss she carries on, living life. When in her old age death takes her, she is reunited with all of those who died before her and you see her, youthful, climbing the staircase, all of those surrounding her, so happy to see her again with them. And as they move aside there is Jack standing at the top of the stairs holding out his hand, reaching for Rose…

This is how I see Mary, climbing the stairs, smiling, her arm out stretched, reaching for the hand of John, him smiling too…youthful, reunited…a love story.

Mary and John had a good long life together; they raised two handfuls of children and all of them raising more. Mary was well loved and she loved well; she had a kind word for everyone, an encouraging word, words of hope and faith and love.

The greatest gift of God is love.  Every day I thank God for teaching me about love; for giving me the opportunity to know love, to have shared in it, to have held the hand of it…love.

  

Love is a hard thing to hang on to…living is hard and life is always changing, nothing ever stays the same. People grow up, emotions change, children are born, work takes over, life happens, children move on, people grow older…but through it all love is there, in the cracks, around the corners…up the staircases…love the greatest gift, the gift that binds everything together.

Here is a wise saying…It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.  Love is hard, it is sometimes elusive but it is always there waiting for us at the top of the staircase, a hand held out waiting.

Mary is reaching out for that hand, smiling...death, a love story. 

I love that. 

Here...take this

We were talking about helping others, helping in situations of loss and suffering and coping and living…just living.  And he asked me; what do you have to offer?

At first I was a little taken aback…what do I have to offer?  As if it is something tangible, something real in my hand.  As if it is something worthwhile to give, something I’d have in my hand that I was willing to pass out, to offer freely.   Something to offer, given like a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs or a baked cake.  Here...take this, yes, this is for you.

Sometimes helping is giving something tangible.

But sometimes having something to offer is from the heart, out of the soul; a bit of grace, a touch of mercy, a listening ear, a touch from a hand that seems empty but is filled with compassion, love.  I have certainly witnessed all of these, seen them being offered freely, given from one soul to another.

But the question was; what do I have to offer?

I have what God has given me...

He has given me mercy, mercy to carry on under hard circumstances…I have mercy to give.

He has given me the faith to trust Him no matter what...I have faith to give.

He has given me Love; love to see me through times of great loss and in times of beautiful blessing…I have love to give.

He has given me insight into death, tasting it, feeling it and knowing it is not the end…I have hope to give.

He has given me the opportunity to witness His grace, undeserved and He has given me grace, undeserving grace…I have grace to give.

In the midst of my story He has given me the stories of others, I have learned to listen…I have compassion to give.

He has given me His word, a knowledge to discern it…I have His word to give.

He has given me Himself; lover of my soul, healer of my scars, comfort for my hurts…I have comfort to give.

Sometimes, these are difficult to pull out at the right time, sometimes I have to look deep to see if they are still there but they are always found, sometimes hidden behind a need of my own, under an old scar, or maybe over there by my own broken heart…but always found…always.

And none of these are tangible or easily seen or taken from my hand but they are felt in the soul, they are known to the heart and they are here to give.

Here...take this, yes, this is for you.