CP 179 Lost... but still together...

CP 179 Lost… but still together…

 One of my aunts died in Holland last December. She was a sister of my mum. I spent 5 days with her in 1998 at her home in Leusden. I had not met her before then, nor did I see her again afterwards. However she occupied a place of ‘specialness’ in my heart because she was close to my mum in a special way. My mum was 11 years old when her own mother died. At the time my aunt Therese was only two years old. To all intents and purposes it was my mother who became her ‘mother’. Also, having lived in Canada for many years, she spoke excellent English. When I stayed with Therese in 1998 I had a great time with her. Among many other things, she was delighted to fill in many of the gaps in my knowledge of my mother’s life-story.

Some years after my visit she was diagnosed with alzeimers disease. Her daughter and family were unwilling spectators as this once vibrant and feisty woman slowly lost recognition of them, of herself and of her own life. After her funeral an ‘in memoriam’ page was sent to overseas family. It rejoiced in the respect accorded to Therese during her illness. It also included two short poems which I share with you. No authors are mentioned. Here is the first:

“Slowly I forget who I am,

 slowly I forget who I know.

 Slowly it glides away,

 slowly I no longer know what I say.

 I hold fast to something I trust,

 I hold fast to the people I love.”

And here is the second:

“I’m confused beyond your knowing.

 I am sad and sick and lost.

 All I know is that I need you

 to be with me at all cost.

 Do not lose your patience with me.

 Do not scold or curse or cry.

 I can’t help the way I’m acting,

 can’t be different ‘though I try.

 Just remember that I need you,

 that the best of me is gone.

 Please don’t fail to stand beside me.

 Love me ‘til my life is done.

To all of this I add a third piece of verse, wondrously written, and wondrously translated, which reminds me that all is not lost when it seems all is lost. Indeed there is one who never ever loses sight of me and who will deliver a ‘togetherness’ which will bring exceeding joy when and where it really matters. So here it is:

CHRIST HOLDS IT ALL TOGETHER

We look at this Son

and see the God who cannot be seen.

We look at this Son

and see God’s original purpose in everything created.

For everything, absolutely everything,

above and below, visible and invisible,

rank after rank of angels –

everything got started in him

and finds its purpose in him.

He was there before any of it came into existence

and holds it all together right up to this moment.

And when it comes to the church,

he organises and holds it together,

like a head does a body.

He was supreme in the beginning and –

leading the resurrection parade –

he is supreme in the end.

From beginning to end he is there,

towering far above everything, everyone.

.

So spacious is he, so roomy,

that everything of God finds its proper place in him

without crowding.

Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe –

people and things, animals and atoms –

get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies,

all because of his death,

his blood that poured down from the Cross.

You yourselves are a case study of what he does…

Colossians 1:15-21 [The Message - Eugene Peterson]

Amen… It is so!

Great to hold fast at Trinity time.

Have a blessed week.  Fred