I just finished my second funeral this week. Since I started as a pastor I have officiated many funerals and they all have one thing in common and that is separation. Your friend or loved one dies and you are forced to face the reality that you will not see them again in this life.
The same goes for animals that are our pets or an event that is a once in a lifetime happening. Our life seems to be filled with separation. Even if someone we love is going away and we know they will return there is still this felling of sadness that accompanies separation. I watched my youngest son walk down the corridor toward his flight that would take him to basic training and I experienced the pain of separation. When he was put on orders and was leaving to fly supplies to the middle east I once again felt the hurt of separation.
When my wife Glenda has left on a trip and I would stay home, the feeling of separation would engulf me once again. Even our dogs would get quiet and lay in their beds more than usual while she was gone. I have concluded that we are not created for separation.
We are meant to experience companionship and community. The problem is that many times it is not our choice. That is definitely true when we experience the death of a loved one or friend. It is something that is thrown into our life that we have absolutely no control over,
The truth is, however, that the worst separation in this life that we could ever imagine will never happen. It would be the darkest hour of our existence if we were to have to go through it. The separation I am talking about is the separation from God.
In Romans 8:38 Paul writes; “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
These are the truths we are learning at The Gathering Place every Sunday morning at 10:30 and Wednesday evening at 7. Our Summer Festival starts tonight at 7, come and be with us.
