Pastor’s Corner: ‘To be with me’

Jesus prays this lovely thing in a most beautiful prayer shortly before His death: “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world” (John 17:24).All through life we are followed by a shadow, aren’t we? When we are young we scarcely ever notice it. But it has a way of imposing itself upon us as we age. Living as humans means a degree of isolation. There are places and times that no one can enter with us, as much as their love would cause them to do so if they could. And we can’t do it for them either. We understand, on some level, that we were never intended to live life as we now know it forever. This necessarily means that a dreaded separation is coming between loved ones – mates, friends, parent/child/grandchild, etc. Many of us have faced these experiences and will for the rest of our lives here be feeling the pain of soul-shaking losses.

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