This posting is dedicated to my sister-in-law Nan, whose sister passed away on July 1st.

A New Song, An Old Song

This song I give to you

Is not a gift from me –

It is a gift from years now past

When faces that you grew to love

Were young and fresh and new.

Those faces and those days are gone,

Exchanged for years of love

And faith, and work, and grief, and joy –

Far richer things than youthful play.

And yet … and yet …

They were the days we call our prime:

That struggling, shining, busy time …

How bittersweet is memory:

Nostalgia slices on your heart

To whittle off the years.

One may look back with fondness,

Oh, how gently stung by tears.

Omie   July 9, 2020

We don’t recognize the exact extent of the grief that others suffer and the result of that is that we have no way to prepare when we encounter our own losses, if there is such a thing as preparing. Naturally, we don’t know ahead of time exactly when our beloved ones will be removed from this world and our companionship; God in His infinite wisdom and mercy shields us from this in the normal course of life. We who are left must adapt and continue to serve our God and His purpose for our lives. It has been powerful for me to remember that God sees from eternity’s side and I am still trapped in time. As Isaiah says, “His thoughts are higher than ours.” With this in mind, I offer another poem.

Untitled

Sometimes our Lord’s decisions are so easy and so light;

Sometimes they seem to plunge us into darkest pits of night.

Howe’er they seem from our side, I know they’re always right

And we walk – in either matter – best by faith and not by sight.

Omie June 30, 2020