This morning I am traveling to CT to share a story at a life long friend's funeral. For 24 years he has been a friend full of grace and truth. He spoke truth to me even when I did not want to hear it. I did the same for him. He lived grace toward me for all those years. I can only home I speak truth and grace into some people's lives the way he did to and for me.
I honor him, Forrest Hart. I have been in the shadow of death myself for 18 months following the sudden death of two people within 10 days of each other, my brother, Phil and my co-presenter, friend and colleague, Karen. I learned so much in that valley of the shadow of death. One thing I learned is that the death canal like the birth canal is a transfer from one form of existence to another. It is dark but it leads to new life because life is already present and is eternal. The second thing I learned in renewing ways is, I do not fear , not because I am so strong or confident but because God is "with me". God is more with us in death and in the move to heaven than ever before. God is with us all of us no matter what happens no matter where we are and no matter what is happening to us. God's eternal presence is just that eternally present.
I always believed that, now I know that.
God be "with" you. (Hopefully your response: and also with you)
About Me
- Don Paine
- I am a pastor and a clinical psychotherapist. My life's passion is defining healthiness from a human perspective and paralleling it to the holiness of God, divine perspective. Shifting perspectives creates a paradigm that is alongside of rather than over and against. The parakalein of God and the paradoxes of humanity are redefined. Humanity is all about winning and yet we are losing ground everywhere. Divinity is all about letting go of the desire to win and the fear of loss. The Divine embraces the world with loving care regardless of anything.
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