At my Circle meeting last night, we heard -- almost accidentally -- about a church member who had been opposed to the Memorial Garden which has been "in the works" for a number of years now. That anonymous person had been visited by a Circle/Council member who had been asked by Council to approach him/her to find out the reason for his/her opposition. In their meeting, the objector expressed the belief that the congregation should be looking forward and not backwards, viewing the establishment of Memorial Garden as looking to the past.
I found that idea quite illogical, as everyone alive now will die eventually. Facing that fact and planning for it is, indeed, planning for the future. Death is not reserved for the old, though it visits them more frequently. My Christian faith helps me accept this inevitability and, with it, my reunion with the saints that have gone before me. When I die, I plan to have my ashed interred in the Memorial Garden and am grateful for the forward-thinking congregation that is making this possible.
This morning, as I left my home for work, my driveway was blocked by another car. I walked down the drive to request that the driver move his car so I could get mine out. He was talking with Cheryl, the daughter of my sharing-the-driveway neighbor has shared the home with her father and her sons since separating from her husband early this year. As I got closer to the group, Cheryl blurted out that her father had died early this morning. He was at his cabin in the mountains and had a heart attack. The 911 responders had reached him too late.
Keep alert, as this week's sermon advised. Events seemingly in the future can become part of the past at any time. Rest in peace, John.
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