Splendid Grief

Splendid grief. Two words that don’t go together? I heard them used by Sir Nicholas Soames MP in relation to his grandfather Sir Winston Churchill, and specifically to the full State Funeral given him in 1965. Fifty years on, there’s been a lot of reflection this week as to what Churchill achieved.

It was unusual for a ‘commoner’ to be given such recognition with a State Funeral, and the occasion was both solemn and a celebration of a man who led a nation to victory against the Nazi’s. Grief. But splendid too. It would have be a very different world without him.

As I reflect on the loss of two dear friends from cancer, one at quite a young age, the words come back to me. As we celebrated their lives, there was genuineness about the celebration. But grief too. Lives taken too soon.

It would have been a very different world without them. Splendid grief.

Towards the Sunrise

Often we embark on a journey with no end in sight. We're not sure how long it will be, or even if we will end up where we want to be. Or at least where we thought we'd be. Such is the journey of life. Twists and turns. Unexpected moments. Some pleasant. Some not so.

But there are always blessings along the way.

The Children of Israel trekked through the wilderness with Moses for 40 years. Quite a journey. But they got there. And near the end of the journey there were unexpected blessings. One of them  is simply recorded- they camped just outside the Promised Land with their faces 'towards the sunrise'. They were travelling north, but as they looked east, they saw the sun rise.

It was a new day for them. They were at the start of something. A few verses later in the bible, we read that they found a well of water and sang a song of declaration over it- 'spring up o well!'

Wherever you are on your journey, take time to state your purposes. Declare them. Write them down.

And take time to look around. You've got this far! Enjoy the scenery. Look towards the sunrise.

(You can read the story in the bible- Numbers 21, v 10 onwards)

Between The Bookends

‘I’m here between the bookends of everything that was and what will be’ It’s a quote from an Amy Grant song.

Every one of us is on a journey. We have no idea of where we are in the journey between those two bookends. In a sense, there is little or nothing we can do about that.

But what we can do is ensure that where we are right now is as effective and life affirming as it’s possible to be. To give our all. To live to the full.

The Apostle Paul said ‘God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!’ That’s true for every one of us. There’s a life worth living, a life worth giving.

If I’m between the bookends with no idea at what particular point, I want to make my life count. So for me, with apologies to Amy Grant for changing the lyrics, it’s not ‘what will be’ but what, with God’s help, CAN be.

 

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

T. E. Lawrence