It’s kinda morbid, but I love cemeteries.
I don’t know why I like them so much, most people avoid them.
I especially love really old ones, like the one I’m sitting in right now.
I can’t read the oldest stones, they’re too faded. The oldest one I found, that I can read, was 1882. It’s not the oldest looking stone by far, but time hasn’t eroded away the evidence of dates and names for this one.
Maybe I love them because I used to play hide and seek with my sisters in an old graveyard back in New Hampshire.
Maybe because I can daydream about the lives represented here, the stories. The families, the love, the loss.
Maybe it’s because they put things into perspective.
It’s all about perception, isn’t it?
Perception is reality, but hindsight is 20-20.
There is a whole lot to be said in the world today concerning open mindedness, enlightenment etc. etc.
People don’t like being in the dark.
They like to know things, for sure.
So what do you know, for sure?
100% truth, unwavering and unchanging?
If you’re me, not much.
It’s a small list actually.
Family – Can let you down
Friends – Come and go
Plans – Change in an instant
Desires – As fickle as the weather
We think we know others. We think we know how things will turn out. Heck, we think we know ourselves! Not really, they are unreliable because they are always changing. It’s not a bad thing, we just live in a morphing planet. Ever moving, ever changing, ever growing.
My perception on what is true and trustworthy is ever changing.
So what do I need? Vision.
I’m starring right down the path of more change, and it scares me.
Home isn’t going to be the same as I left it.
My Dad and two younger sisters won’t be home when I get there.
My grandmother’s health has gone down dramatically, and she no longer lives at home.
Friends have grown and changed too, moving here and there or are in different walks of life completely.
I’ve changed too.
My plans, up in the air.
Me desires, I can’t seem to keep them consistent from week to week.
What I need? I have no idea.
My position of authority is about to change drastically. My role as a squad leader. Some friends will be far away, and some will be nearer. It’s all changing, again.
Just the thought of it all makes me a little dizzy, the transition process that is facing me in a week.
My perception on the world has changed.
My perception on home and family and friends and community and missions and poverty and me, has all changed in some way.
There are a few thing though, that have not changed, that will not change.
There are a few things that are truth, that no matter which way I look at them, they stay the same.
He is good.
He loves me.
He saved me.
He never leaves me or forsakes me.
So again, I need vision, to look at these truths and hold fast to them, even in the midst of transition. I need my eyes opened day by day, to the reality of Him in me, and him in those around me. Eyes wide to Him and his plan for me in the midst of changing season.
The truth is, perception doesn’t change the realty of Him. He was and is and is to come.
Even if my views have changed, family and friends have changed, Jesus has not.
So maybe that’s why I like this cemetery so much. Life itself is ever changing, but all these crosses remind me of the One who never will.
Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing… Remains
Your love never fails, never gives up
Never runs out on me
On and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never, ever, have to be afraid
One thing remains
In death, In life, I’m confident and
covered by the power of Your great love
My debt is paid, there’s nothing that can
separate my heart from Your great love!
