We have been praying for family and friends lately, who have been very ill, and some who are going through, or facing, the rigors of cancer treatment, many with uncertainty as to the medical outcome.
This morning, at home, in bed with a lung infection, I picked up my bible and daily meditation from earlier this week, when I had not felt well enough to do any reading. These words were one of my suggested verses, they really clicked home in my heart, and this is what God promises to us as we struggle though sickness, pain and difficulties.
Pilgrim Path, the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Northumberland
“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.”
Psalm 107: 28-30
Rob and I have planned and paid for our funerals, written our wills and made life as easy as possible for our loved ones when we eventually leave this life and go to the next great adventure with God.
These are the songs I have chosen, starting with that amazing song which is the most sung in UK churches in the past few years….‘In Christ Alone’, then:-
‘Amazing grace’ (blues version), ‘And can it be’, ‘Beautiful Saviour, wonderful Counsellor’(All my days), ‘Thine be the Glory’, ‘Before the throne of God above,’ ‘Breathe on me, Breath of God’.
This is NOT “morbid” as some people say, but facing the absolute truth that this world is not our home, one day we shall leave it for our final destination. We choose not to be in denial as to our mortality but to accept it as inevitable, but not to dwell on it.
One of the songs that I have chosen is to be played, not sung by those gathered, to celebrate my life. It is from Jeff Johnson’s ‘Navigatio’ album. This album follows Brendan the Navigator’s spiritual and earthly journeys, possibly even to America, in http://www.pilgrimpath.net/?p=408 I have written some details of this Celtic saint.
This is the song. I could only find this clip so ignore the space pictures -If you go to one minute in on this You Tube they begin playing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDPW-r_lPEc
These are the words:
I’ve earned my sin Nearly spent my soul
I’ve lost my way until now
At the world’s edge I have found a door
At the world’s edge I can see again
So let my ship sail like Brendan’s
Let it carry me home
May the three guide my passage
Towards the island of light
So let my ship sail like Brendan’s
Let it carry me home
May the three guide my passage
Towards the island of hope
I’ve earned my sin Nearly spent my soul
I’ve lost my way until now
At the world’s edge I have found a door
At the world’s edge I can see again I can see again I can see again
Our lives are a pilgrimage, an exciting, scary, amazing journey with God – which death does not end.