It's a mysterious event when you really take the time to think about it. One second, someone is breathing, thinking, seeing, hearing, sensing; the next, their breath is finished, their heart no longer beats, the connections in their brain no longer fire commands. All that remains is a body - the container for this former person's intelligence, humor, greed, kindness, determination, anger, happiness. Whatever he or she was and felt as a conscious being no longer is there.
This last week I was on vacation in Seoul. It was a wonderful but extremely busy time. Friends and former students kept me going each day with appointments. Getting to see them all was exciting for me - I never thought I would actually see or hug or speak face to face with most of these people again in this life. What an awesome five days it was!
I returned to Daegu and my small but cozy apartment and couldn't wait to be unpacked and get into bed. But, of course, Facebook has a way of distracting and pulling one into the virtual realms of others' lives. While chatting with a friend about how I was slightly depressed about being back to the comparatively quiet city of Daegu after Seoul, I scrolled over a picture of a friend with someone I did not recognize. It had a lengthy caption, so, of course, I felt the need to read it. When I read the words, I felt slightly confused, for it seemed as if the person who had posted was talking about my friend in the past tense.
So . . . I clicked. I was taken to my friend's Facebook page. I saw similar posts. I saw an article about a motorcycle and car accident. I saw a comment: RIP - you will be missed. I felt disbelief. I felt shock. And soon, a wave of realization swept over me, drenching me with a heavy sadness down to the depths of my heart. I didn't know what to do or how to feel. I cried. I thought. I looked at pictures. I read. I cried some more. Why? How? What????
This world is beginning to make me weary. Every day something happens somewhere to cause pain, suffering, fear, sorrow. The earth is heaving and creaking and aching. We are traveling; we are not home. Some days, I wonder when will be the last day in this place of sin and pain. Soon, very soon.
Soon, I hope to see my friend once again, greet him with a hug and a smile in our new bodies as we finally travel Home.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away . . . "I am making everything new!" ~Revelation 21:4,5
