Throughout my relatively young life, I have experienced the passing of many friends and loved ones. Each time, there is the loss and grief mingled with the sweet presence I feel near, the overwhelming gratitude as I reach out and hold my loved ones a little closer, the peace and comfort that comes from the knowledge that we will one day be reunited. Each time, my faith in people is renewed as I witness the love, strength, and compassion that every person is capable of, but so rarely exhibits. Each time, I am gently reminded of what matters most.
With the unexpected passing of a sweet friend this week, I am reminded once again, and not so gently, of how precious and precarious our time on this earth is, and how sharp the contrast is between what really matters and what the world wants us to think matters. This event has reminded me that even though our lives are laced with tumultuous times and human weaknesses, we have a loving Father who places angels in our path to help us through. As my friend returns to our Father in Heaven, I feel utterly compelled to write about this angel who lived among us and share with you what I believe is a lesson she taught me in what matters most.
Our paths crossed when our daughters became close friends. Though we spoke only occasionally, we seemed to have a connection. One day during a particularly difficult time, I received a letter from her expressing encouragement and love. She shared a story of another person who had experienced a similar problem to my own, and hoped it would help me find strength and comfort as it had helped her at one time. I was deeply touched that someone I barely knew would reach out to me in such a meaningful way.
On several occasions she was able to share with me some difficult times of her own, yet through them she maintained love for those who hurt her. In passing thought I knew she was a kind soul with special gifts. I didn\u2019t realize at the time how those gifts would eventually come to impact me, but I can see now that her example made a lasting impression. While the world and its people can be caught up in politics, anger, judgment, gossip, criticism and worldly possessions, what matters most is how we live and how we love in the midst of it all. My friend leaves behind a legacy of compassion and unconditional love. I have had the honor and privilege of being a recipient of that, and I only hope that I can live worthy of it and give such a gift to the people in my life as she did to the people in hers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Original date of publication – 29 Jan 2009. Republished for its relevancy in today’s turbulent times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Throughout my relatively young life, I have experienced the passing of many friends and loved ones. Each time, there is the loss and grief mingled with the sweet presence I feel near, the overwhelming gratitude as I reach out and hold my loved ones a little closer, the peace and comfort that comes from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"book_review_cover_url":"","book_review_title":"","book_review_series":"","book_review_author":"","book_review_genre":"","book_review_isbn":"","book_review_publisher":"","book_review_release_date":"","book_review_format":"","book_review_pages":"","book_review_source":"","book_review_rating":"-1","book_review_summary":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":608,"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions\/608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerkeep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}