"Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in
his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his
surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of
cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has
breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord." (Psalm 150 NIV)
Ernie, my husband
of 37 years, died on October 10th. As we gathered in the sanctuary of
St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on October
19th to celebrate Ernie's life with a memorial service, there was a
small Christmas tree sitting on a short table on the platform. Many
wondered why it was there until I got up during the service to share
some of Ernie's life, which included the story of our Christmas tree.
For years, each Christmas, we have put a small Christmas tree on top
of the armoire in our bedroom. Ernie, who had been given two months to
live in January of 2011, now spent most of his time in our bedroom.
After Christmas last year, I suggested to Ernie that he might like to
keep it there all the time, as he often slept with the tree lights on
all night. This little 16-inch tree, with its small stuffed birds and
other miniature decorations, has two strings of the old kind of
miniature lights, all of which go out if one bulb burns out. With God's
grace, the top string has never burnt out, but over the year, one by
one, bulbs on the bottom string of the tree lights burned out and had to
be replaced, until by summer, there were no spares left. I thought of
putting a notice downstairs in our apartment building, but, sadly, I did
not think to ask God to send me some--but God is good.
One
Monday morning last June, I was taking some old clothes to a local
Bibles For Missions thrift store. As I went to the back door, I glanced
at the stuff that had been left over the weekend and noticed a grocery
bag containing Christmas tree lights! There I was, dancing around the
parking lot, hands in the air, praising God for His awesome gift! Over
the summer, the bottom string burnt out repeatedly and was replaced four
or five times, until there was only one string left, which was in an
unopened box. That last string continued to burn brightly through
Ernie's last days. The little tree went with him for the last four days
of his life in the Embassy West Hospice and shone brightly as Ernie,
after nearly three years with pulmonary fibrosis and three heart
attacks, ascended into heaven to meet his Lord and Saviour, Jesus, in
the late afternoon of October 10th. That little tree, lit with its
bright lights, stood on the platform of the sanctuary as we gathered on
October 19th to celebrate Ernie's life.
Strangely, last weekend,
I put up Ernie's tree in my bedroom and plugged it in--nothing. Both of
the strings of lights on the tree were burned out!
I've felt
nudged lately by the Holy Spirit to share this Christmas tree story
about the goodness of God, His faithfulness, and how He gives us gifts
without our even praying for them. Even in the poignancy of death, God
grants us little touches of His love to soften the blow and let us know
that He cares. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
faithful servants." (Psalm 116:15 NIV)
Prayer: Father, in the
name of Your Son, Jesus, we praise and thank You for the life of Your
faithful servants who have passed to their reward, and for Your promise
to us who believe, that we will spend eternity with You. Help us to live
each day as if it were our last. As we enter the season of Advent, guide
us in our preparations to celebrate the birth of Your Son, Jesus, who
died that we may have eternal life. Help us each to remember that Jesus
is the reason for the season. Amen.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
