New Year 2011

This year is off to a much different start than those which have gone before. George and I spent the first day of the new year driving home from Olympia, Washington, where we went to say good-bye to his brother. Fred does not have long to live, for cancer has stolen him away. He lies in a bed, unable to do anything for himself, and he waits.

Although death is a constant companion in the life of a pastor, this time was different because Fred is family. For thirty years, Fred has come to visit, or we have visited with him. We have ridden motorcycles together across the United States. We have sailed the waters of Puget Sound on his boat. We have played music together. Like all of my other family members who have gone on in the journey of eternal life, it will be difficult to imagine life without Fred being a part of it.

Soon we will travel back to Washington, to remember Fred and celebrate his life, to remember those times and places, and that will be a good thing. But it was also a good thing that there was time and space to go there, to talk together, to sing together, and to pray together; to tie together those loose ends which were never tied before, and maybe that is the very best beginning to a new year. Maybe also, it is a reminder to do those things with the living every day of the year to come, and that would be one awesome resolution!!