“A voice was saying: ‘Call out!’  And another said, ‘What should I call out?’
All flesh is grass; all its loyalty is like the flowers of the field.
The grass dries up and the flower withers when the Lord’s breath blows on it.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass dries up; the flower withers, but our God’s word will exist forever.”
(Isaiah 40:6-8, Common English Bible)

This week I’ve been thinking about life.  That life is short and fragile and a gift.  That’s what came to me after hearing about the tragic helicopter accident in California that killed Kobe Bryant, Gianna Bryant, and the other passengers on board.  The prophet Isaiah spoke about the grass drying up and the flower withering, that people are grass.  We will not live on this earth forever.  Yet, God’s word of love will never end. 

Maybe it seems strange to grieve for people we never knew personally.  Though we know that there are people who touch our hearts regardless of whether we ever met them or not.  Sudden accidents like this can have a way of making us introspective.  We think about how one minute someone is perfectly full of life and the next minute, they are gone.  It’s difficult to go there in our hearts, but there are these moments when we realize, once again, that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.  That the grass dries up and the flower withers and surely, we are grass.  (It’s why I happen to love Ash Wednesday as it’s a reminder of our preciousness and mortality, but that’s another topic perhaps for another day.) 

Without meaning to be cliche, let this week be a reminder for us to live our lives to the fullest.  To hope and to encourage.  To reach out and to console.  To have compassion.  To see and to allow ourselves to be seen.  To forgive and to love.  Yes, always, to love one another as God first loved us. 

Love,
Pastor Lauren 

(This Week’s Thoughts 1.28.20)