We're faced at times with the departure of people that we've known well for all of our lives. For me most recently, it was my precious mother in the summer of last year, so Mother's Day this year provided for a different range of emotion and provoked some personal observation...
In the back of our minds we may well know that we'll face their leaving one day even while we share their company in the present - but our thoughts at the time would be not now... not now. For a time pleasant conversation, wise counsel, laughter and tears are all shared in the comfort of present company as we push away any knowledge of their predetermined future. Still, even while we're with them, a fleeting thought from time to time may remind us to take stock of what we have in them while we yet have them ... and then they're gone.
What can we say in the presence of the Lord while we face the gaping void of their absence? Do we dare to be resentful or to let our faith falter at the end of their allotted moment? Do we drown in the misery of our own sorrows? Or are we rather found to be grateful for the gift of their presence in our lives - for the time they were allotted to bless and enrich us? For indeed, they are each one an undeserved gift, intended only for a measured time. And any failure to note that gift bypasses a much deserved gratitude to the Lord who lovingly shared them with us purely by His grace.
In the wake of their leaving, we can faithfully only attempt to measure what they have endowed us with - not what we've lost, but rather what we've gained by grace. It's an accounting well undertaken because each gift that the Lord graces us with enriches us in ways we must acknowledge for the future. For every such gift we must not only be grateful, but noting what we've been given through their presence with a responsibility to pass on as a gift of inheritance to those we share life with in the present and our own measured future. It's a responsibility we all share.
By sharing the best of what we've learned in Christ's spirit from those we've loved, we honor both them and the grace filled giver of life, who knowingly blessed us with them for a time. By example, I have a responsibility to share a good, kind and compassionate heart. My mother's was a heart full of love and laughter, one valuing most what cannot be measured in money and is of greatest value to Christ's heart - people. I know my execution of that responsibility won't be perfect, I'm no more perfect than my mother. But like my mother, I will endeavor with a full and good heart to follow in the footsteps of my Savior in order to pass on her legacy and to demonstrate my gratitude to them both as long as I'm able. This is her legacy and my responsibility to share, but it also honors both my mother and my Lord in the wake of their gifts to me,
This may be a little different way of thinking about a loved one's departure for some, but I'm convinced in my own heart that it's in keeping with a divine perspective rather than what could be my own selfish one. Unlike far too many, I'm not forced to carry the terrible burden of loss - I know beyond any doubt where my mother is. She may not be here, but she's not lost. She's right where she's supposed to be and where I some day want to be - in the Lord's direct care. Though my heart may at times be heavy as I consider that she's not present with me now, I have the joy and comfort of knowing that one day, when my own measured time runs out, I'll share life with her in the Lord's presence forever, so I can have peace.
In the wake of this first Mother's Day without her present, I'll honor her still, knowing that as I seek to follow in Christ's footsteps and share His heart, I'm honoring them both. Our Lord has shared with us richly what is His alone and given us a responsibility to share what He's given. We've received a precious gift in the people that add to our lives and a responsibility to share what we've received from them in His spirit. In doing so, we step forward and fill that void they leave behind in their honor...
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