Thursday, April 3, 2008

Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:6-8

I have lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. This week, another of my aunts left this earth and has gone to her heavenly home. I have just come from the funeral, so death is on my mind right now. I don't see death as a morbid subject, because it is really a part of life and something everyone has to deal with at some point. After hearing about my aunt's life, I feel comforted rather than sad. She had a Hope, the same Hope that I have. My aunt's hope was in Jesus and I believe with all my heart that today she is finally looking at her savior. I do feel sad, though, for her daughter because now both her parents and her only sibling are all gone.

I hope this doesn't seem disrespectful, but I enjoyed going to the visitation last night because I got to see relatives I haven't seen in a long time. Since my grandparents died, we don't get together anymore. I didn't realize how much I have missed some of my cousins, especially Randy. Randy is my age and his family lived next door to my family when we were growing up. He was my first playmate and he was like a brother to me back then. We played together all the time and I have great memories. We stayed somewhat close as teenagers, but as adults I rarely see him. But the best part is, we have a family reunion planned later this month so we will all be together again and this time I won't have to rush back to work. I will be able to visit cousins, their children, aunts and uncles as long as I want.

Something else that was really interesting for me was to see the different generations that have come from each set of parents (meaning from my dad's brothers and sister). It's amazing to see how one married couple and the way they live their lives affects all the generations to follow them. It's really something to think about.

3 comments:

bp said...

Sorry for your loss, Kathy. The hope we have is comforting though at a time like this.

I'm glad you were able to see some of your family.

Nina said...

I'm sorry for your loss. I know what you mean about catching up with relatives at funeral visitations. When I was much younger, I thought it was extremely disrespectful when people would excitedly greet each other, and sometimes even laugh and cut up with each other, at funeral homes. It infuriated me, especially because the people who did these things were much older than me, so I thought they would know better than I how to be respectful of the deceased and family. Now, many funerals later, having seen the same behaviour by different people over and over, and having engaged in it myself, I see it as almost a necessary part of the whole process. There'something very comforting about being at a funeral and seeing and listening to families sharing fond memories with each other. Man, I'm getting old and mellow.

prin said...

I'm sorry for your loss. (hugs)

I feel the same way about death, even though I don't believe in an afterlife. It's a part of life and to fear it only takes away from today.

Funerals are good for catching up, even though the circumstances are unpleasant. Too bad we can't get together without needing a major event.