We walked in the rain together, sharing umbrellas with those who didn't have one. We walked past tall gum trees, signs that marked out the various deniminational areas. We walked past graves - some had been there for a long time, some not so long. We walked to celebrate the life of a very special person who would give the shirt off his back for another, who lived in the love of God.
I have been spending time with many thoughts around death and brokenness of our bodies and souls. Thoughts that dance with ideas of who God is in the midst of human pain and suffering. The limits of our humanity. Some may say the story of Genesis bears nothing in the evolution of our world. Some may say it is a very real historical document of our beginning. Some may say it is a story that brings enlightenment to God in particular ways and as a particular being. The story has been part of my dancing thoughts. In particular the part where Eve and then Adam give into the desire to eat the fruit that will give knowledge of good and evil. And our human race has never been the same again.
We gathered to remember, to give thanks, to weep and to pray. But we also gathered because of hope and love - defined by God in Jesus Christ. What we broke somewhere at the beginning of our human history, God gave back to us in Christ. Life in its fullness - as God first intended - within the heart of Love itself. Every now and then we see glimpses of that in each other and the world around us. Sometimes it is in the story of a life lived in faithfulness to you. Sometimes we bear that ourselves.