As you may know, in December, there were two funerals hosted at the church. One was truly a celebration of life for a faithful woman named Atleah Grubb. There was so much to celebrate about her accomplishments, her family, and the longevity that life brought to her. She was blessed, and she was a blessing. Just a couple days later, there was another funeral. This funeral was for two children: one named Lyric, who was 9, and her younger brother, named Wylde, who was 6. This funeral did not feel very celebratory. It came with the heart wrenching realization that we live in a broken world, and sometimes that means people’s lives are lost way too young. What I truly appreciate about funerals, however, is the knowledge that they all end the same. No matter the circumstances surrounding them, the ending message is the same. That message is not one of endings at all, but of new beginnings. It is a message of the resurrected life of Jesus Christ who has made a way for our resurrected life. It is a message that death has no hold over us, and one day we will meet again. It is a beautiful message. It is times like these we can reflect upon new beginnings in our own lives. The resurrection doesn’t just have to happen after we pass from this world, but with the birth of Christ, we understand resurrection and transformation can happen from one day to the next, one season to the next, one year to the next. What must die in your life to make way for the newness that Christ has to offer us here and now? Go ahead, take five minutes and answer that question… what feels more like death than life?

The great thing about living as a person with the knowledge and assurance of eternal life on our hearts and minds is that we aren’t held down for too long by that which is temporary. We are able to rise above the hurt, the pain, the darkness, the anger, the jealousy, the tiredness, the burdens of this world. They are real, and they will come, but they, too, do not have a hold on us. Eternal glory with God our Creator is the only one who has a hold of our lives. So, till the day we are fully clothed in that eternal glory, claim that position for yourself here and now. Watch the way your life takes on the reflections of heaven and envelopes others around you in that same glory.

From one light to another,
Pastor Hannah Loughman

Photo by Anthony Quintano