In preparing for Lent this year, I am remembering God's promise for resurrection on a personal level. My longtime college friend Pam has recently entered Hospice which has saddened me beyond sharing. What I can share, however, are two things: my steadfast faith that God will embrace her for eternity, and my lesson in learning this.
Years ago at a sixteen year old student's funeral in a high school auditorium, a local pastor shared a never forgotten lesson. The teenager had died unexpectedly, and fellow students and teachers had gathered to celebrate his life. In recounting the 23rd Psalm, the pastor explained that in “those days” a traveler might stop at a stranger's home to ask for respite. Hospitality might be minimal, where they would offer the wayfarer some small bit of food. It could, however, be a hearty welcome where he was invited to dine well with them. If his drinking vessel was filled half-way, the unspoken message was that he was invited to join them for only the meal. If, though, his vessel was filled nearly to the brim, that meant an even more generous invitation to spend the night. However, Psalm 23's line “my cup runneth over,” contains an even loftier welcome - an invitation to stay forever.
That long ago eulogy has served to strengthen my faith in eternal life all these years, and shaken as I am by the thought this Lenten season of saying goodbye to my dear friend Pam, I believe with all my heart that she has a place waiting for her in Heaven, that her cup will have spilled plentifully over its brim.
Glen Baldwin
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