After the crucifixion of Jesus the Apostle, Paul traveled the known world spreading the “Good News.” One of the places he established a church and spent some time was the City of Corinth in what is now Northern Greece. He wrote three letters to the Corinthians giving them guidance on how to conduct their lives. The New Testament of the Bible includes two of Paul’s letters. An often used passage of comfort comes from the 2nd Letter to the Corinthians where he says; “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him.” The passage is most often stated like this, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”
A while back I was holding a town hall in my district and I was asked about the perks of being a legislator. They were expecting me to discuss the travel and dinners with the dreaded lobbyists. That week I had attended four funerals. So I told them that one of the perks is season tickets to funerals. In Southern California I have been to almost every venue for a funeral service. I have been to some unusual places for services as well as services of different beliefs and for people with no beliefs at all. As a season ticket holder I have come to know all the funeral directors, the motorcycle traffic officers and most of the ministers. This comes in handy when you see a printed program that looks like War and Peace or you need a parking space. I’ve been to services that were so long I was able to go to another funeral have lunch and make it back in time to present my memorial resolutions.
I have been to the funerals of slain children and people who were accomplished and had full lives. I have been to funerals where people were glad to see the dead guy gone and literally came to make sure he was dead. The saddest part of any service is seeing the faces of those who lost a family member or close friend where a lifetime relationship has been established. Today I would like to take a few moments and focus on losing lifetime relationships.
Noted spiritualist and author Iyanla Vanzant in her book Acts of Faith had this perspective, “Lifetime relationships are a bit more difficult to let go of. When a parent, child, spouse, sibling or close friend is involved, the wounds are very deep. When the end of a lifetime relationship comes, you may feel that you would be better off dead. The pain seems to grow, the memories linger, and a part of your life is dying. You relive every painful moment in an attempt to understand. Your job is not to understand. Your job is to accept. Lifetime relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. They are the most difficult lessons to learn, the most painful to accept; yet these are the things you need in order to grow. When you are facing a separation of the end of a lifetime relationship, the key is to find the lesson; love the person anyway; move on and put what you have learned to use in all your other relationships.”
A new life begins when a part of life ends. AMEN
Amen
