The Heavenly Father, in silence, beckons the creation out of deep sleep each morning and awakens our being to be present, to be alive once again. Sunrise and sunset are a twenty-four-hour ritual depicting life and death. The darkness always gives way to the radiance of day. Living and dying is an unbroken pattern until one fateful day. Then, in a flash, the night will become an everlasting light.
When I go away, when my body dies, I will awaken from my slumber into the brilliance of a million suns. My human eyes are now dark, but my spiritual eyes are wide awake. No longer hindered by time and space, I will live in union and oneness with the God of creation. So please don’t feel sad for me when I go away. When this body passes away, my spirit will be forever alive to dwell with God and those who love and love me.
Just as I am here, I will also be there. It may look dark on this side, but the sun is shining where I am. My spirit is no longer bound up in an old, decaying body. I am alive and not a care in the world. The rehearsal is over, and the stage for the play is the glorious light and presence of God. Death is swallowed up in the resurrection love of God.
Know that I am always with you. You may not see me, but every time you kiss the children, I kiss them just as my father and mother kissed me. Whenever you tell someone you love them, you love them like my grandfather and grandmother loved my father, mother, and me. When the darkness overwhelms you, know God’s love will restore and make everything new one day. (When does the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth?)
So, when I go away, know I’ll be waiting for you with those who loved me long before you knew me. If you have eyes to see, you may see me just beyond the sunset. The sun setting in the radiant western sky grows dim and fades away but never dies. My life came from the spirit of Christ, and my life will return to Christ. So, when I go away, know I am just beyond the sunset waiting for your arrival in the morning. And remember, as the Psalmist says, I will take your mourning and turn it into joy.
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