The Greatest Courage

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The greatest courage and deepest faith of humanity

Endures the slow disintegration of the body and the slipping away of independence.

It looks into the eyes of death and begins to see the brilliance of glory.

It stretches a foot over the chasm afraid to let go of here but yearning for there.

It groans as it struggles to escape the deteriorating confines of flesh.

It pains through the stripping away of the body as the soul emerges to unimaginable joy.

It reaches one last time to grasp the hand of God as He lifts His faithful into paradise.

Everest

For all of us who watch them reach the summit…may we be grace givers unto the end.

4 thoughts on “The Greatest Courage”

  1. Wonderful words that indeed describe the mystery of a journey, a final hike that each of us ultimately faces alone, yet secure in Love.

  2. Amen; and to God be the glory! We take comfort in knowing that the hand that is reaching down for us, is the same hand that parted the waters of the sea, and the Jordan. We will then sweep into the glory that he has prepared for us,come Lord Jesus and recieve us home!
    God Bless you Pam

  3. One of the best perks of working at Corban University? Many, many amazing colleagues including you, Pam. Your reflections on walking with a close friend or loved one near life’s end speaks deeply to my heart. Oh, for God’s grace to walk the long, arduous path of diminishing in future years. More importantly, I pray that I may be a channel of His grace to dear friends who have just lost a loved one, and a channel to two other dear friends who are dying…

    • I think it’s what we all fear…those final days of the reversal to the helplessness of our beginning. The first breath inhaled earth’s air and the final releases it to inhale glory! I remember the deep sorrow of watching my dad slip away. But when he was gone, I had such a profound sense of his eternal life and knew that the still cold body was only his temporary tent. I knew, without any inkling of a doubt, that he was breathing heaven’s air with new strength and overwhelming joy.
      I also think that our gracious loving God gives grace to the dying that we cannot see and do not know until we take those last breaths.
      This is for my dear friend who, right now, sits at her mom’s side.

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