Death where is your victory?

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

1 Corinthians 15:55

The First of November is All Saints' Day and our church always observes it the weekend following that date. Which means that last night, in my little conservative Lutheran church, Pastor read the names of all the church members who have passed away in the past year, and one of the ushers tolled the bell for each one. It is pretty somber and always causes me to tear up. Protestants generally regard all true Christian believers as saints, hence the ceremony in remembrance of those who have gone to heaven.

As a Christian, when I hear that a believer has died, I am like - all right, way to go, another soul is in Paradise, all pain and suffering, worry and hassle is gone from their life and now it is a life of peace and joy for eternity for them. (Which doesn't mean I'm still not going to cry, I am after all an emotional, hormonal female.)

It drives me nuts when I ask patients how they are doing, and they respond with something like, "I'm still here, it's better than the alternative."

Really? Because for me the alternative is way better than what I have here now.

Lord, God Heavenly Father, grant me the patience to wait on Your call, when You are ready to carry me home. In the meantime, guide me in bringing others into Your saving grace.

Nairobi funeral home that we drove past one day while I was in Kenya

And word count for today, on my memoir from Africa, is 1049 words. Making up for some lost time.