Thursday, October 29, 2015

When Death Comes upon a House

Ruth 1:1-5
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Lord,
so much illness,
so much cancer,
so much war,
so much death.

Naomi knew death.
First, her husband;
then 10 years later,
BOTH of her sons.
Death has come upon her house.

Lord,
death has visited our community too:
a recent murder that still reels in my head,
a child of my church, now grown old, who is dying of cancer,
memories of so many neighbors, church members, friends
who have died.

This Sunday, All Saints' Day,
we will remember
those who have
kept the faith,
finished the race,
and have taken their seat
among the saints
who sing your praise!

We will remember,
and we pray that
we too will remain
steadfast in our commitment to you,
for you, Lord, are steadfast
in your commitment to us.
Amen.

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