The Flocking Instinct

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (New Living Translation)
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
9b
... "No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him."
10But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God's deep secrets.

A gentle evening rain is falling with a soft snapping and crackling like logs ablaze on a winter fire. From the highway I hear car tires smoosh as they pass by, and the late night chorus of field insects chirp their September song. A fresh breeze wafts through the window beside me; a welcome visitor, cooling the day warmed room.

Tonight there is one less friend in this world and one more in heaven. I imagine the breeze is perfect there.

Two weeks ago (it seems like so much longer), our worship team gathered before the service to practice. Someone said that Bob wouldn't be there; he wasn't feeling well. Those ordinary words gave no clue to the true gravity of Bob's condition, but before days end he was in an intense battle for his life, his body under assault by a massive infection.

Yesterday the great, kind heart that we all loved so dearly, stopped and was restarted, several times. As the urgency of the need for prayer was evident, the news traveled in concentric circles, like ripples on a pond, by phone and email. The Body prayed as one.

There was no concentrating on anything else as we kept our vigil, answering each ring of the phone with hesitance and apprehension. Finally at 11.10 p.m the call came; the unthinkable had really happened, "our Bob" was gone.

The need to "be together" was so strong that again via phone and email we processed the sad news, prayed and mourned. We felt the need to "flock", and it helped.

Our hearts go out to Bob's dear Evelyn and his children and grandchildren. We don't understand, but we trust in God's goodness. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Psalm 49:15 (New Living Translation)
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
15 But as for me, God will redeem my life.
He will snatch me from the power of death.

Comments

Cardinella said…
What a wonderful image of the community of saints praying as one.

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