 |
| Image source |
In November, a month for praying for those who have died, I'm posting
occasional reflections to help us pray for those who have gone before
us. This well known poem by Henry Van Dyke gives us a beautiful
maritime image for thinking of loved ones and their journey from this
life to life forever with God...
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
We used this writing from Henry van dyke on my sister's mass program. So many people commented that it is a true way of seeing death. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDelete