My wife has recently written about the fact that when we travel and there are churches or cathedrals to visit, we light a candle for Mack. We have done this since last summer, the summer after he passed. There are usually hundreds of candles burning there. People light them for […]
Death
132 posts
This week at the International SBL meeting, three Qumran sessions were given over to commemorating the work of John Collins on Apocalypticism. In the first session Prof. Collins, in his summary of his work on apocalypticism, said something that made me go “hmmmm.” Now, I should say that I may […]
The idea for this post came not really so much from reflecting upon the process of selecting Mack’s headstone, but on some recent conversations. People have a habit of using the phrase “I want my obituary to say…” as a way to express the impetus or motivation for their actions […]
There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the […]
When I was finishing high school and in my first year of college I went through some difficult times. I was melancholy, moody, in short, depressed. In the midst of that a well-meaning friend gave me a book Happiness is a Choice. I still have it on my shelf. The […]
[pullquote] John 14:1-1414:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.14:2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?14:3 And if I go and prepare […]
Our son Mack is buried in this beautiful and historic cemetery. Many of the graves go back to the 18th century and is concerned by many to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. (The picture of the “three widows” commemorates that original, impromptu Civil War remembrance.) We chose this cemetery because on one […]
I have debated for more than a year whether I should share my thoughts on Psalm 22 with you. They feel selfish, even when I know they are not. This past week my good friend Dr. Rick Wright shared his reflection on Psalm 22, the first of the “last seven […]
TLDR: I am not going to tell you how. I don’t know how you should mourn, but be sure to let others take the time they need. It is sad to me how many people feel the need and the right to tell others how they are to mourn. Certainly there […]