Good morning, and greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ( this is from Paul ).
“Do not let your hearts be troubled ” Jesus in John 14.
Jesus knows the state of our hearts. They are troubled.
Three weeks ago we got an email from a former Laotian refugee, who worked for Shirley and I in the Thai refugee camp. He wrote to us to let us know that a family we knew had had a death. Chanthip Markhala had passed away. We knew her husband, Phao, very well. Phao always had a smile for us. They live in Kitchener.
Then we received another email this week that Phao’s son, Metta had passed away as well. The visitation will be this evening in Kitchener. Metta has suffered from rickets, and had various surgeries to try to straighten his legs. They were never successful. He was very bowlegged. When we saw him three weeks ago, he was in a wheelchair.
On Monday morning, I got a call from Jennifer Bisch, Nadine Shantz’s daughter. She immediately said that her mom was fine, but her grandmother had passed away, and would I do her funeral. So, I have a small graveside service to do tomorrow afternoon. A small intimate gathering for the family; a very different service than the one we had for 500 people to remember Earl Wideman just a few weeks ago.
All of us experience death and loss. Death is part of life, part of the human condition. We are all in various stages of grief at all times of our life. Grief never ends. But, we honour our loved ones, we cry, we reflect on what they have meant in our lives, and we also go on in our own journeys. We continue to make a difference in the world and the lives of the people that we love, in response to our grief.
Shalom and strength for your own journey of grief and love,
Fred