Well done,my good and faithful servant.

A good man went home this past Saturday. He had been battling with cancer for awhile and although we knew that death was to be the final outcome, it was not expected quite this way. And yet…..if he had chosen for himself, it probably would have been very similar to what happened. It was an incredibly beautiful early spring day. The sun was out, the air was warm and the birds were singing. His wife helped him to the bathroom then back to bed. She headed to the kitchen just down the hall for a glass of water. On the way back she realized that the oxygen machine was silent. Walking into the room she thought how peaceful he looked. It took a few minutes to register in her brain that he was gone.


So many in today’s world view death with fear, they see it as an unknown black abyss. In so doing they often live their lives as if nothing really matters. But to believe in this is to believe in a lie. I know that our life on earth is just a small portion of our eternal lives that started before we were born and continues after our weary bodies are placed in the grave. Everything that we do while here is important to our future.

My friend knew this too. He knew as did the poet William Wordsworth that “Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star, Hath had elsewhere it’s setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter darkness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home.”

Ecclesiastes 12:7 tells us “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” An unknown poet penned the following about death; “The spark of life is like a spark of fire; It flashes forth its beauty, and is gone; So dies the minstrel, leaving Fancy’s lyre Bereft of heart, and chords, and song, and tune; Silent, because it cannot sing alone. Meanwhile, all those who loved it mourn and weep For loss of him with whom it could not sleep.”

We rejoice with the angels that another of God’s sons has been called home. We weep with those who miss his presence, his voice, his prominent place in his family. We look forward to the day when we can again associate with him. We look upon his life as one that has been well lived and we can almost hear His Father’s words, words that we would echo also, “It is finished. Well done, my good and faithful servant.” That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?