Sorrow and Joy

                                     When I must leave you for a little while . . .

The past seven days at SPPC have been hard ones.  We had two funerals.  We are missing two faces from our fellowship.  We have two families suffering bereavement.  Our hearts are heavy.  And yet. . .
    I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.  Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me; because I live, ye shall live also.  John 14: 18-19
   I go to prepare a place for you.  I will come again, and receive you unto myself;  that where I am, there ye may be also.  John 14:3
   And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Rev. 21:4


   
    We grieve our loss, but we rejoice in the life that was lived, in the love known and the laughter shared.  Our loved ones live on in the stories told, the pictures in our memories, the baby who wears his forebear's smile. 

 In the midst of sorrow, we have hope.  We believe in the resurrection.  We know our good-byes are not final.  As Rev. Irwin said, "we gather as a congregation to say good-bye, but what we really mean is "see you in a while.'"

Let Not your Heart be Troubled, H.A. Clark