Last Moments

To sit at the bedside of someone who is coming to the end of their earthly life, is a privilege for us as pastors. To be there in the moments when a person is coming to the end of one journey, but also beginning another journey is a sacred time. As we are there with a spouse or a family, we hear all kinds of remembrances about their life, what they loved to do, what made them happy, what special things they did in their lives. Some of these memories haven't been shared for years, some of the stories have almost been forgotten until they are told and retold at the loved ones bedside. It can be a sacred time of saying many things that may have been left unsaid through the years, the "I love yous", the "Thank yous", the "I forgive yous" and the "I'm sorry's". Said through tears, said in a whisper, these words are precious when they are spoken. All of these things can be said, bringing peace and closure to a relationship. And then, we entrust our loved one into God's care, knowing that God's love for them already surrounds them, but letting our loved one rest in God's presence and be carried in God's strong and eternal arms.