A ship sails and I stand watching till she fades on the horizon and someone at my side says
She is gone.
Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all.
She is just as large now as when I last saw her.
Her diminished size and total loss from my sight is in me, not in her.
And just at that moment, when someone at my side says she is gone,
there are others who are watching her coming over their horizon and other voices take up a glad shout--
There she comes!
That is what dying is,
A horizon and just the limit of our sight.
Lift us up O Lord, that we may see further.
She is gone.
Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all.
She is just as large now as when I last saw her.
Her diminished size and total loss from my sight is in me, not in her.
And just at that moment, when someone at my side says she is gone,
there are others who are watching her coming over their horizon and other voices take up a glad shout--
There she comes!
That is what dying is,
A horizon and just the limit of our sight.
Lift us up O Lord, that we may see further.
--Bishop Brent
In Celebration of the Life of my Dad 11/24/1936 - 1/26/2009. I miss you so. You were a great man.
In Celebration of the Life of my Dad 11/24/1936 - 1/26/2009. I miss you so. You were a great man.
