Goodbye...

O Grave, where is thy victory?

O Death, where is thy sting?

1 Corinthians 15:55

 

When you have worked in the same local church for as long as I have (almost 12 years), sooner or later you are going to have to bury someone that you strongly care about.  Such will be my experience on Monday.  One of our congregants died unexpectedly this week - a woman who has been a fixture at the church for years.

She didn't like me much when I first arrived, and if I am honest, I would have to say that the feeling was mutual.  But over the years, time and circumstances forged a strong friendship between us, one that I believe we both valued.  More times than I can count, she came to me with the question, "How can I help?"  She developed a strong affection for one of my high school voice students -  a young man with a wonderful baritone voice.  Almost every time she saw me, she would ask about him, and inquire as to his needs.  When her family revealed her personal wishes for the participants in her memorial service, this young man's name was toward the top of the list.

This precious woman endured tragedy after tragedy that would have felled many others - men or women.  Clinging to her faith, she fought her way through the grief and the tears.  She will long be remembered as the one who arrived on Sunday morning with a smile on her face and an inquiry as to everyone's health.  She was the little lady with the apron pockets full of goodies, surrounded by children as she made her way through the fall bazaar booths.  She loved to laugh and she loved to hug.  She was full of hope, happiness and life and will be greatly missed.

As my vocal student and I searched for the right song to sing in her memory, I came across an old hymn that suddenly seemed to fit just right.  It was the way she lived her life, and the way she met her death.  

Until Then

 

My heart can sing when I pause to remember
A heartache here is but a stepping stone
Along a path that's winding always upward.
This troubled world is not my final home.

But until then, my heart will go on singing.
Until then, with joy I'll carry on.
Until the day my eyes behold that City -
Until the day God calls me home.