Something I will not soon forget

I had to witness something horrible yesterday. I watched a baby dying. I am still trying to shake some images and sounds from my mind. One of the hardest things is realizing that it happens everyday, several times a day, all over the world. The grief and loss and the things people say in trying to make sense of it all is really something to hear. It is amazing the strength that some people have. It is amazing the way that people can come together during such a time. This is what I have been called and have committed to be a part of and present for as a chaplain. While this is something that I am doing this semester it is in a sense something I have committed to doing for a lifetime when I said yes to God and His call on me. Wow, that's a revelation! While death in the physical sense may not be so in my face on a regular basis, it certainly will be, and is, in the spiritual sense. People are dying every day and some of them don't even know it. It is very interesting to see how those who have faith grounded in God and His promises weather these times versus those who do not have a faith grounded in God. I am intrigued by what propels people forward and keeps them fighting for the next day, the next breath. Hope is so instrumental in all of this. That is what my message was about last week in my sermon at the hospital. Hope gives us a reason to live but at the same time this hope can be a reason to let go. The promise of eternity with no more pain, tears, hunger, but instead peace, rest, love, worship, beauty. The hope that we can find in the eyes of another, in the prayers of another, those can propel us forward. The hope found in those who have walked this hard road before and survived. The hope that can be found in the new beginning afforded us by Jesus.

My message was about planting and nurturing seeds of hope. Being seeds of hope to others and nurturing hope in others. In the end we can all feast on the harvest of the hope we have nurtured and grown. In the meantime some of us might be chucking rocks and pulling weeds, others of us watering and feeding. We all have a part to play. Live into it. Share your seeds of hope, share your harvest. Let's all sit down at a feast of thanksgiving together.