"I Am Standing Upon the Seashore"

Years ago, a friend shared this poem with me. I have read it several times since then and I love the picture it paints of the transition between life here on earth and our true Home. 

"I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, 'There, she is gone!'

'Gone where?'

Gone from my sight. That is all.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: 'There, she is gone!' there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:

'Here she comes!'

And that is dying.

                                                                    by Henry Scott Holland


There have been so many people we know who have recently been parted with their loved ones. I was just reading a beautiful tribute to a grandmother who went Home and the tears streamed down my face as I thought about the pain that sweet heart is feeling, and remembering my own goodbyes to my grandparents and parents. 


Theologically, I don't know how accurately the poem portrays the reality of things. But I DO know the Joy is real when another saint finishes the race and arrives Home. The actual beauty of that reality is probably so far beyond our understanding that we are not able to comprehend it with our finite perspective.


(There are several "versions" of this poem, some attributed to Van Dyke. I used the one from the book my friend shared with me.)

The Ache of a Heart Longing for Home

The more deeply I fall in love with Jesus, the more I long to forever dwell in His Presence. In worship, the ache is often physical. (This one's for YOU, Kirsten! :)  It's not that I'm unhappy here. I'm so very blessed and our life is incredibly rich and fascinating. 


But this is not Home.


And that Truth is becoming more and more real in my soul and my spirit. 


There are so many songs of praise that speak to this "other worldliness" that He created into the fiber of our beings, but one that always "gets me" is this one:

 
There is nothing like standing, surrounded by my family on a Sunday morning, singing this song together. I think I want it sung when He calls me Home.


Another one that makes me weep every single time I hear it is this one:



"If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."          C. S. Lewis

He wants us to understand the Truth of our situation. He wants us to know that there is more, that we were created for more. There is such strength to be found in recognizing our Citizenship. It frees us from things that could otherwise distract or dilute our mission and message while we walk this Earth. It causes us to discern circumstances correctly. It teaches us "to number out days aright so that we may gain a heart of Wisdom."


And, even though the ache is fierce, it is the most Loving way for Him to allow me to feel. Walking through these years with a heart that is so very tender to His Touch is the desire of my heart. I don't want there to be any hard spots in my spirit, my soul. I want to allow Him to turn my heart of stone into a heart of flesh that quickens to His smallest Whisper. 


It's the opposite of the message that so much of our culture thinks of as truth: that we should be independent, pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, be dependent on nothing and no one. It is thought that freedom is the absence of need.


True Freedom is being completely and totally dependent, knowing that every need is met only in Him.


As I learn more about the true nature of my need, I give Him thanks. 

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A Tragic Tale

He had only been coming to our little church for a couple of months, but loved it. His parents said he had never felt as at home as he did with our young people. 


When I got the text Saturday morning, I wasn't even sure at first which young man he was. 


It didn't matter. 


When you hear that someone has chosen to take their own life, even if you didn't know them, your heart breaks. How could a sixteen year old, a talented musician, athlete, popular, happy son/brother/student/Christian reach the point that he welcomed death? There were apparently no clues. No hint of what he was contemplating. Everyone said he was the last person they would ever guess would take his own life. 


I think about his poor mother. They had worked together to clean the pool, then shared a pizza for dinner. She had gone to fix him some hot chocolate. As she was taking it to him, she heard a pop and thought something had fallen. She had no idea what she would find when she went to her son.


And then there are his dad and sisters, who had left town to watch the high school championship football game. Even though they kept his body going for a few hours, his dad and sisters didn't make it back before he was gone.


There have been seven suicides here in the last month.


Those left behind always ask themselves what they missed? What could they have done? Why hadn't they known what was coming? Could they have said anything that would have prevented it?


A few hours after he died, there was a gathering at church of the youth and several adults. We cried and prayed and loved on each other. But we also spoke Truth out loud. 


We have an enemy who seeks to destroy us.


We must recognize that his goal is to isolate us so we believe we are alone.


He tries to burden us with shame that causes us to withdraw from others.


Our Father is always seeking to draw us nearer to Himself.


Any guilt we feel because of sin in our lives is intended to bring us to the point of repentance and confession so that there is nothing "between" us and our Father.


NOTHING can separate us from the Love of Christ. NOTHING!


Nothing we can do will cause His Body to stop loving us.


The Lord will always provide a way for us, no matter what.


We were created for Life.


We were created to reflect His Glory here so that others may come to know Him.


He IS SUFFICIENT for whatever concerns us today.


He is bigger than any problem we could ever encounter.


There are people who love you and will help you.


Suicide is NEVER the best choice.


He has plans for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future.


As His People, we need to be looking for those in pain, reaching out with Love. We need to go deeper than just a "How are you?" We need to be vulnerable and open about our struggles and problems. We should never be guilty of painting a false image of ourselves as problem-free and perfect, for then we close the door to ministry. 


As parents, we must do battle for our children. We must ask the Lord for Wisdom and Discernment to see our children, or those whose lives we can speak into, as they really are. We need His Eyes to recognize the ways the enemy is attacking them. We need to speak Truth and Blessings over their lives, out loud and often. We need to talk about big issues. Our children need to understand that they can talk to us about ANYTHING, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. We need to tell them that we love them, daily. We need to hug them and laugh with them and poke our noses into their business. Anytime we believe something like this CAN'T happen to our family or friends, we are deceived. We don't need to live in fear, but we do need to be alert, aware of the threats the evil one brings against us. We truly must pray without ceasing.


For the record, our family is NOT perfect. No where close! The story of our lives contains one messy, problem-filled chapter after another. I sin, our children sin. But He continues to Love us and make us more into the image of His Son. We love to live in His Light, but that doesn't mean we don't have to cry out to Him to beat back the darkness.  

All Those Precious Souls

Photo Credit

Psalm 11

In the LORD I take refuge.    

How then can you say to me:    

“Flee like a bird to your mountain. 

For look, the wicked bend their bows;

they set their arrows against the strings 

to shoot from the shadows

at the upright in heart. 

When the foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

The LORD is in his holy temple;

the LORD is on his heavenly throne. 

He observes everyone on earth;

his eyes examine them. 

The LORD examines the righteous,

but the wicked, those who love violence,

he hates with a passion. 

On the wicked he will rain

fiery coals and burning sulfur;

a scorching wind will be their lot.

For the LORD is righteous,

he loves justice;

the upright will see his face.

As we remember what happened that day, we all think about the ones whose lives were lost, and our hearts ache.

All those precious souls who thought that day was like the one before
All those precious souls who unknowingly said their last goodbye that 
     morning
All those precious souls confronted with the face of evil
All those precious souls had no idea their time had reached its fullness
All those precious souls whose eternal destiny was determined that day
All those precious souls, each one lovingly created by their Father

All those precious souls for whom Christ died

All those precious souls, each known and loved by Him

All those precious souls, did they know and love Him?
All those precious souls we grieve again today

The tragic end of all those lives reminds us that only in Him are we safe.

Only in Him. May He comfort all those whose hearts were broken that day. May they turn to Him for healing and peace. 


May He teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain  hearts of wisdom. May we hold this precious resource of Time, given to us by Him to be spent in His service, with humility and reverence.