Sabbath Messages > Sabbath Message: May 6, 2006
Good Sabbath
May 6, 2006
"We sometimes congratulate ourselves at the moments of waking from a troubled dream; it may be so the moment after death." (Hawthorne)
As I've grown older, I have outlived my expectations, as well of losing great friends and relatives. The downside to long life is that mortality becomes so evident, as the people one likes, enter another dimension about which we know little, except possibilities. For death is the end or the beginning, as well as nothing like we have feared. Just as we cannot anticipate birth we cannot anticipate the end of life.
However, when we meet a person who has been a fine human, having helped others, loved well, been kind and faithful, we can be certain that that person has met God as he entered immortality.
Such was The Reverend Tally Jarrett Jr., the beloved spouse of his angelic Lillian. Tally lived through 83 years and did it well, through war, religious leadership the way God wishes it to be, and faithful values that define a good human.
I have met angels and known great people. Angels are everyday humans who act the part that God assigned to humans, while He waits patiently for the mortal to discover what that may be.
Last week I lost an old, former client who was also a church leader, Milt Brock Jr. I knew and served three generations of Brocks. Milt was that rare person, conservative, religious yet magnificently human, willing to learn and understand that differences divide us or bind us closer when angelic humans practice God's commandments.
Fran and I will go to Tally's memorial service on Friday afternoon at 1 PM, in St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 334 14th St in Del Mar. When a good person passes on, it is a celebration of that life when people rise and share the meaning of the departed person's life, with humor and love, as they did at Ernie Hahn's and Tim Larrick's celebrations. Each of my lost friends practiced a differing religious interpretation, with a sameness that God truly appreciates.
We meet many dunces in our passing days, leaders who pose as god--like emperors shed of clothing. Arrogance is a wasteful habit that matches duncehood, mistaken as power. Good humor cloaks sadness with a joy that almost compensates for loss. As we puzzle over loss, we must awaken to the truth, that while human body withers, the soul is engaged in adding to its depth, on a foundation built from youthful foolishness to elderly wisdom which prizes wisdom and kindness above all other human accomplishments.
Bring the Sabbath into your today and love will fill your soul and add to your years.
sandy
