In Your Grace

July 17, 2024 A prayer for a family

Lord, You are the Light of our Lives.

Life in this world is not meant to be eternal.

Two lives departed in an instant. I do not judge nor do I question the why. Our human life is complicated or maybe it is us more so that make it more complicated than it needs to be. It is an immense sadness to lose two lives, a mother and daughter, even knowing that it would never have been forever in what we see, hear, and feel, in this life we know.

I never ask You.

I am a witness, though, of the lives of others. I know we are all Your creatures that you Love unconditionally, no matter where, who, or what. You give us the Gift of choice. That same Gift means that we must all find our own way to be Your children. For some it is easier. For others it is not so simple.

I am witness to a mother who loved her daughter unconditionally and devoted her very existence in raising her up. Her own life was, by any measure, blessed with warmth and righteousness. She treated all equally and never had any thought of hurting anyone. She touched every life that met hers. All say the same that she was easily loved and trusted. She was simply a hand of your Love as she thought of others more than herself. When sickness comes as a lightning strike, life as we know it, is upended in a blink. It leaves us with no bearing, all we thought we knew is unknown. Maybe we come to understand and accept that death is inevitable. With a constant ever greater pain, and the sense that time is slipping by ever so quickly, without your Light, death remains a mystery.

Her daughter was a simple soul upon which human frailty and sickness took its toll. It is neither a choice we make nor one we can avoid, as we humans are incapable of understanding the why of so many destinies. A mother and daughter, forever, inseparable in all.

Human sickness that is a constant throbbing pain and that ushers a sense of hopelessness, is a trial of indescribable burden if Your light is not seen, whether hidden, or otherwise. Some would ask You - why this burden to bear?

I do not.

It is so clear that ultimately we are all one with You and this life we have is just a moment for us to behold and share your Love as only You know we are capable of. There are no bounds for You. Faith and belief is not an obligation You ask, only that what we do honors your Love. Wherever, whomever, matters not. Simple as it may be, to do so as mere mortals means embracing your Grace.

What is done is done. Where their journey for eternity leads to next I do not know. In our human imperfection their hearts and souls were pure in Your likeness. I know that You see all and Smile upon all. Their journey may be long. Whenever, they shall be for You to welcome.

A husband and father now must bear the burden of life that continues without. May You also know that their joy as a family cannot be forgotten and that therein Your light give him the Grace in this moment of human sadness and sorrow.

In Your Grace