The Beginning and the End

It has been a very trying year.  I have neglected this blog and, I confess, my habit of reading through the Bible every year as well.  There are all of the minor things that we let get in the way, painting the exterior of our house, remodeling, travel, etc., but it is the major things that distract us the most; those once in a lifetime occurrences that consume our past, present, and future.  This year it was the dying days of my 95 year old mother.  She lived a very long, and up until her last six months, faithful, productive life.  Her last days were consumed by pain.  Pain so intense even hospice could not figure out how to make her comfortable.  It is not easy to watch someone you love go through such agony.  But, joy comes in the morning and that morning came at last on December 6th.  Now she rests with all the saints who have gone on before.  Her death was liberating, not just for her, but for all of us who loved her.  She has been freed and is finally at peace and so are we.

I don't know how it all works.  If our spirit soars to heaven at the moment of death or if it is a gradual process.  I do know that the last week of my mothers life, she saw something that set her mind at ease, something that she could look forward to.  My belief is that she saw the heavenly city.  "I've been so foolish," she told me that last week, "so foolish."  I think that is what we will all say when we see heaven and compare it with the worries and woes we experience here on this finite earth.  We are all so foolish chasing after things that really won't matter when we see the Father's face.

My inability to focus has gone and we are ready for a new year of reading through God's word.

We end this year with John's words to the church, our words to you for the coming year.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. - Revelation 22:21 KJV