reunions

Memories About Ghosts

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

Do you ever see a photograph and wish you could go back in time and be a fly on the wall for the moment that the picture was taken? You’d see the people alive again, their faces animated and their voices long silenced speaking again.

I know it would probably mess up the space-time continuum thingy big time, but I’d love to go back and capture some of those moments with a really high-end camera (or at least my cell phone). I love seeing the old Polaroids, but sometimes it gets harder to make out the faces or really see the expressions on people’s faces. Sometimes, I forget what the people I loved look like and it would be really nice to remember again.

But then I remember that a Great Reunion is coming. That’s what Revelation talks about when it says that Jesus will come back and take us to a place with no more crying or pain, where He personally will wipe away every tear from our eyes. I imagine at that point it will be tears of joy over seeing loved ones alive and whole.

I don’t know what people will look like in heaven. I’ve heard that we will all be in the prime of life. Perhaps we will all be what we looked like when we were 33 because that’s the age when Jesus made His ultimate sacrifice for us. Maybe we will look young but with eyes that reflect a lifetime of wisdom. All I know is that Jesus will be there, and because of what He did, we will know each other and we will above all know Him whom we have only seen up to that point through eyes of faith.

Until then, I have grainy Polaroids and a Bible and a fait that believes without seeing. But then one day, my faith will be made sight.

Family Reunions

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

image

My cousin posted a picture on Instagram that got me thinking. It was a picture taken of the extended family gathered together, all smiles and laughter.

It made me think back to all those family reunions we used to have back in the day. I so enjoyed seeing those people, many of whom I only saw that one day a year.

Looking back, I have one regret. Why didn’t I get to know these people better when I had the chance? Why did I wait until it was too late?

I think everyone who has ever lost a close loved one will feel like they took their loved one for granted to some degree, that they left words unspoken or good deeds undone.

I look at this picture and I see a lot of people who aren’t around anymore. So many that I miss. If I only had some kind of time machine to go back, even if It were only like watching an old home movie. That would be enough.

You think you will have enough time with those you love. You won’t. You think that if they live a good long life, their passing won’t hurt as much. It will.

All you have is the time you’re given. All you have is today, as the old Robert Earl Keen song goes. Every moment you spend with a loved one now is one less regret you’ll have tomorrow.

Don’t think that I have only sad memories. The majority of the feelings that come from this picture are happy ones. Good ones. I feel like I grew up in a family with a long legacy of love, laughter, honor, and faith. I was (and still am) very blessed.