Hi God,
We come … and we go.
That seems the inevitable way of things.
Today I remembered
it was the 15th anniversary
of my Dad’s passing.
Then, this evening, I learn
that your servant Alan,
our former pastor,
has joined my Dad.
I hope Dad and Alan meet
and get to swap some “larry” stories,
and sing some songs together.
I hope Alan and Dad also get to hang out
with my friend Luther,
who was quite the singer,
Hazel’s (and thus my) Aunt Bevie and Uncle Stu,
and those of my dogs
who are no longer with us,
Bridget, Colleen, Scotty and Cider Anne
(also Lord Russel, my grad-school cat).
I think they would all
have rather a jolly time together.
I guess that’s my view of heaven:
you hang out with loved ones,
you sing together,
and your dogs are all there,
playing joyfully together.
I hope you don’t mind this simple vision;
the one in Revelation seems overly strange.
I would also ask you to please
have mercy on all our souls,
those of us who are still in earth,
and those of us who have passed on,
sinners though we are
or once were.
Amen