I am writing in the days following a funeral that I did not attend, but felt the impact of 900 miles away.
My Great Aunt Loraine passed away last week. The last time I had seen and heard from her was Christmas last year. I did not know her well, but I always appreciated her stories and her consistency in the midst of an inconsistent extended family. She was my grandma's sister. I called my grandma this weekend after the funeral and though the call was short she said she was happy that her sister had a full life. This is a profound statement. You see you probably never knew my Great Aunt Loraine and oddly enough some of you reading this entry do not know me either. Most will read this and say this is nice and then go on to the next blog, because we are addicted to this kind of reading experience. But again I heard my grandma say about her sister; she had a full life. There is profound truth in this.
You ought not think that a full life is the heroic life. Most of you did not know my Great Aunt Loraine, but her life was full. She was a daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, and great aunt. All of who I know Great Aunt Loraine as has something to do with relationships. Of course my being a great nephew I really only knew her through family ties. It's my conviction that one should not casually forget their family though. This is because it is with our family that we practice most clearly who we are in relationship. If we are manipulative or selfish in relation to our family how could anyone expect us to act differently outside of our family? Likewise if we are loving and encouraging in our family it would follow that we would be loving and encouraging beyond our family.
Her life was full. I believe that the most fundamentally real thing is relationship. I say this because I believe in and know the Triune God. As part of this reality I believe that the Triune God created all that there is through and by itself (please forgive some of the strange wording if you have questions please email me or leave a comment I'll be happy to explain further by whatever means is most helpful for you). So the highest reality that I live in is one in which God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- displays the perfection of relationship and by working in human events has in fact invited all of us to live in and be a part of that perfect unity. In short because the Triune God is such because of the perfection of relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and invites us all to join in that I can say that the ultimate reality we can live in is in relationship with God and one another.
Her life was full. I know this not by any virtue or merit she may have achieved. Those are blessings she received and forwarded on to the next generation. No her life was full because she was and still is in relationship with God and those that live on now. Great Aunt Loraine.
Friends, Sisters, and Brothers, we make choices in our relationships each and everyday. We choose to begrudge, slander, encourage, praise, love, hate, be apathetic or empathetic to one another. We make judgements. My hope is that you begin to see your life as growing in fullness as you relate to those around you. That you would not only see those around you as holy, but also yourself and God. Sister and Brothers be holy, because that is in reality what you are not by any virtue you have within yourself but by virtue of God's gracious relationship.
Her life was full and continues to be.
I pray that yours is too.
Blessings in Christ Jesus the Son of the Father who by the Spirit makes life full.
