As thoughts of Thanksgiving and Christmas begin to cross our minds and enter our hearts, there often comes a sadness born of the loss of those we love...
November then, the Month of All Souls, comes at a perfect time, inviting us to remember and to pray for those who've gone before us. Henry Van Dyke's poem provides a beautiful image for our letting go into God's hands family members and friends we miss, especially at this time of year...
Gone From My Sight
I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says: “There, she is gone!”
“Gone where?”
Gone from my sight. That is all.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says:
“There, she is gone!”
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:
“Here she comes!”
And that is dying.
- Henry Van Dyke
Whose ship has sailed beyond your sight?
Who, with the Lord, stands on the other side,
ready to welcome those you've lost?
Lord, when I remember those who are gone,
help me trust and pray they've sailed the oceans of your mercy,
to be welcomed home, in the harbor of your everlasting peace...
Amen.
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