How does one take a measure of a life? Whether our own or the lives of others? We think about the people we have lost through death and ask ourselves whether we ever really knew that person in all facets of his or her being and what that death means for us, individually or within society.
Elaine Lent died Tuesday. Her death came suddenly, without the warning of a long illness. On Sunday she was talking about using her new motorized scooter to garden, something she had missed since being confined to a wheelchair. Those of us who knew her only had snippets of who she was: student activist, dancer, teacher, history buff, but above all, a person who responded to Jesus’ call to justice, mercy, and love.
A pillar of Old First Church, she worked for the church, not just as a building but as a visible symbol of the kingdom of God in the world. May her spirit of determination be with us all as we mourn and may it inspire us to live more fully.
Prayer for the Day
Grieving, we come to you, O Lord, for solace and healing,
As we hold the memories of those we have lost;
Bewildered that death swoops in and takes some suddenly,
For such passing reminds us of our own mortality.
Comfort us, O Holy One, as we wander about this world,
Unsure but still with faith that you are with us no matter what.
In the name of the One who is always with us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
There is no grief like the grief that does not speak.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (1807-1882)
Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life.
Annie Roiphe, American writer and journalist
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pick up what is planted;
A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up;
A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-6