On this day Norbert Johnson was laid to rest, a dear friend and colleague in ministry. Though not at his funeral in person, we were there in heart. And God gave us once again not only the hope of eternal life after death, but a fresh awareness of it here and now.
A warm setting sunglistens on waving
branches of hemlock
as if pronouncing
its benediction
on all living things.
My soul comes alive
with the shimmering
as memories flow
in both mind and heart
from roots in hist’ry
to wings they supply.
From regions beyond
comes the awareness
that eternity
is nearer than life—
God’s love manifest
within our being,
So little a thing
it seems, this vision,
yet full of wonder:
all in a moment
we are giv’n to see
and grasp the Kingdom.
Not just someday soon
but in this moment--
more than a foretaste
of things yet to be--
eternity here,
full of shimm’ring life.
Hembygden 5/14/09
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