A long walk for the Dead

it was so hot

clouds of dust everywhere engulfing the mourners and the procession

my heart ached

my soul was in such turmoil

for it was my father that I grieved

his loss impossible to perceive

and in the midst of the music mourners and funeral march

a voice so clear so totally absorbing

come…….follow me

at once i was vulcanized liberated and transcendent

i responded… let me first go and bury my father

and then the words that will haunt me

that i will carry to my grave

‘let the dead bury the dead’

he did not join the funeral procession to lend support

he did not offer comfort

but said to another ‘no man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom’

it was not written that he ever attended a funeral

but with jairus’s daughter the centurion’s servant the widows son lazarus and the cross he came after to snatch away deaths victory

perceived as late but always at the appointed time

hurriedly at least in my anxiety

i sought to fulfill my obligation my duty

and then i ran back to that celestial voice the creator calling me

but he was not there……. gone and i knew not where he went

and as i walked a retching feeling of loss far greater than that of the death of my father

it was not until some time later as i was walking on the road to emmaus with a friend confused and in great anguish feeling forsaken

that he joined us disguised not recognized

he opened the eyes of our understanding

healing my heart illumining my mind

the saviour he spoke is lord of the dead and the living

and that flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom neither does the perishable inherit the imperishable

and i understood what it was to be dead and now truly alive

for neither death or life angels or demons fears for today or worries about tomorrow not the powers of hell or the sky above or the earth below….nothing can separate us from the love of God…nothing

death is simply moving from time to eternity releasing the corruptible

life and death are one even as the sea and the river that flows into the sea are one

it was then that i recognized him and i was bathed in comfort

pulled back from the wreckage of my dark reverie

my long walk was over

and in the arms of an angel i was caressed

knowing that the grief i endured this long walk of death came from divine compassion….it was the price of love