Thoughts for the Day

As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.

As for mortals, their days are like grass;
they flourish like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children.

Thoughts

I have said these words during 38 years of taking funerals hundreds of times, they are often my 'go to' verses for the committal, either standing around the grave or at the crematorium, as we begin the section to say farewell to a loved one after we have commended them to God. I have stood in blizzards of snow with a barathea cloak (thanks to a grateful parish) that was too heavy for me to lift onto my shoulders without the help of the verger; I have sweltered in summer heat whilst wearing a part-lined thick cassock until I could afford to buy a thinner one; and I have been almost blown away by the coastal winds of Suffolk, Cumbria and Wales. But in all these places I have spoken with confidence the words of Psalm 103.

We are but made of dust (or atoms if you prefer), our life is short in the scale of the world we live in, and all that we often count as important is seen as unimportant if we suffer ill health. However, we may be just a bundle of insignificant atoms but should remember that our Lord loves us 'from everlsting to everlasting'. He does not desert us in the dark times. He is with us from our creation to our death, and beyond.

Lord of Heaven and Earth,
Creator of all things,
You care for us as a parent
cares for their child.
Hear us when we cry to You;
give us help when we cannot
help ourselves,
and draw us at the last into
Your loving arms.
Amen.