March 11, 2022
“Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14
It’s been a week since my sister passed. One memory I’ve thought of often in the past month Carol was the time we were confronted with steer in a Hana, HI pasture. “Don’t make eye contact and keep moving forward,” she told me. It worked. And something that happened the evening she died reminded me of her words.
When the funeral home was ready to take Carol away, one of the nursing assistants requested that he wheel her out feet first. I asked her why, and she said, “We always ask that people be wheeled out feet first so they can look to where they are going and not to the past.” With that end in mind, I was grateful to walk forward with Carol leading the way one last time as my oldest sister.
Carol now clearly sees the prize of the heavenly call. I, too, can look forward to what lies ahead, in this life and in life eternal. It isn’t a cure for grief. It isn’t a quick fix. Grief is a marathon, not a sprint. It is solace that the race is worth it in the end. Along the way, at just the right time, good words and acts of kindness show up as tiny reminders of the big picture.
Moving forward in and through grief. ~ Anne
Wayfinding 