Something God Alone Can See

This week has been a time of endings and beginnings. A longtime faithful member, Lillian died on Monday. And while that was an ending, it was also a beginning—a beginning of her new life in Christ, a beginning for her family to move forward as she would want them to.

It was also an ending for my students at Wesley. They have completed their two-year internships and our colloquy. Seven of them graduate in less than two weeks; the eighth graduates in December. It is also a beginning for them—a beginning of the next step in stepping out to answer God’s call in their lives.

Somehow, thinking not only of Lillian and her family, and not just of my students, but also of those in Nepal, and those in Baltimore, the words of Natalie Sleeth come to mind:

            In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;

            in our doubt, there is believing; in our life, eternity.

            In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,

                        unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.[1]

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[1] Natalie Sleeth, Hymn of Promise, © 1986 Hope Publishing Co.  UMH 707.