He AND They Get Sweeter as the Days Go By
An old gospel song went like this: “He gets sweeter as the days go by; He gets sweeter as the moments fly; His love is richer, deeper, fuller, sweeter. Sweeter, sweeter, sweeter as the days go by.” Seriously, the older I get and the closer I’ve become with my Lord, the sweeter and more peaceful is my journey. I’m consistently drawn to His Light. I’ll be honest with you — I’m so happy that the dark side of October 31st is over. Bring on the bright Light of Christ! Talking, walking and living in the Light is my number one priority. The more familiar I’ve become with THE LIGHT, the more I shun darkness of any kind!
Yesterday, November 1st (BTW – Happy November!!) was All Saints Day when we focused on saints. This tradition began in AD 609 and encourages us to remember and emulate our heroes of faith. So many devoted their lives to God and were Light-bearers of Christ. Many were martyred for their faith.
Today, November 2nd, is All Souls’ Day. Both of these days touch me so much — two beautiful days of celebration. Those of us who have a relationship with Jesus Christ, look at death as leaving our “temporary” home on earth to go to our home sweet, eternal home in heaven. There are many who consider death an unpleasant topic and don’t even want to discuss the subject. But, my sweet mother-in-law gets it because she keeps saying “I want to go home!” She knows the joys that await her.
Here’s the positive way of looking at death. This earth has been our internship for heaven. It’s the “holding room” for the ride of our life. You and I, and everyone we love will eventually die so then death had better be our friend and not our enemy. All Saints Day and All Souls Day offer us a wonderful, consoling and beautiful way of looking at death. On All Saints Day, we celebrate the glory of the saints in heaven. The Church teaches that everyone in heaven is a saint. There are many men and women, who are canonized (official) saints, and a special day is assigned to them. On All Saints Day, we celebrate everyone in heaven. Think of our loved ones who have died and gone to heaven. This is a chance for us to be happy for, and with them. They have no pain, no frustration, and all they know is absolute, complete peace and happiness because they are in the presence of God. We rejoice with them!
On All Souls Day, we acknowledge our loved ones who died and we embrace our memories with them and the great hope of meeting up with them in heaven. On this day, I purposely recall my precious grandmother who introduced me to my future husband, my firey-preacher grandfather, my angel mom, and wonderful dad, my beloved husband and so many others who influenced and impacted my life. On this day I get to admit that I miss them and I’m not even ashamed to shed a few tears for them. After all, Jesus wept over the death of His friend, Lazarus. I don’t shed tears because I lack faith or because my faith is weak. I shed tears because I miss them. It’s okay. It’s just temporary for me because I carry on with the joy of seeing them one day soon! I continue to let Jesus make sense of it all for me! How about you?