And when it is time we must face the peace
“O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” — Corinthians 15:55 (KJV)
By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.
What is supposed to be a special day set aside for recognizing mothers is shaping up to be a soul searching experience for me.
In life we were never guaranteed a smooth sailing from our birth to our death; however, we are given the assurance of a safe landing.
Mother’s Day, for most, holds as many found and beautiful memories as an astonishing bouquet of glorious wildflowers beholding only to the splendors of an irreducible, hazed purple orange colored sunset melting into a translucid, transitory, bed of comfort
For me this week has been a very wearisome trek through life’s forest of unexpectedness.
The experiencing difficulties to which I(family) was confronted concerned visits by the Death Angel three times in less than a day apart.
As with unexpected visitors and visits, they can present themselves with pleasantries as well as the “OMG can I recover from this knock upside my head with a sledgehammer,” unpleasant confrontation!
Once I was able to regain what semblance of composure I thought I learned and kept in my quiver of resourcefulness, I was hurriedly required to delved deeper into my soul for the much need Helper.
What-how-when, no not now and the all too familiar WHY were the subjects bouncing and gyrating in my head like bumper cars at the carnival.
As long as there is life and men/women have the ability to think and ponder, there will always be perplexing questions surrounding this inevitable interesting ending to LIFE as we know it.
Just as bewildering and oxymoronic as life is, death holds equally fascinating points.
One has only to embrace the inevitable with the wisdom of knowing , believing and the fear of the Lord to ease the sensation of what feels like swallowing a dump truck full of beach sand. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is under-standing. Proverbs 9:10 (NASB)
So intriguing and so precious is death that only God knows the time and certainty of the moment for each one of us.
Not even Jesus himself nor the angels know the time or the appointed hour of our death; it’s just that precious and personal. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” Matthew 24:36 (NASB)
What a relationship!
If we were to hold a mirror in the face of life, what other attribute would be as stunning or as qualifying or parallel to life other than death?
There are a number of scriptures that address this unavoidable certainty, and yes, there is even mentioned in the holy books about the experience of some who never died- they just “went up”, “Enoch was translated that he should not see death” (Hebrews 11:5). Be that as it may, we do have to leave here-this place-this earth.
For some of us our mothers are waiting “up there” and the only way for us to be reunited with them is to pass through this way by death.
“Life ain’t so bad because I have nothing to compare it to. Death on the other hand must not be bad at all because no one has come back to complain!” —Bobby R. Henry, Sr.
May those we love who have passed this way REST IN PEACE!
To George Ross Lewis, Ms. Evelyn Brailsford and Michael Cooper, God bless you all and may He welcome you with open arms.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!
