holy ground

It'll be coming on 30 years in a couple of years since my Dad died.

It's strange how the time flies by. And strange, as well, how so many of the details to do with his death and his dying are as vivid as ever they were.

At the time I remember being struck by the words of the psalm -

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." [Psalm 116.15]

That seemed to sum up so well the remarkable way in which the Lord had attended, with such exquisite care, to all the smallest details in regard to my father's death.

I learned back then that the Lord takes an extraordinarily personal and personal interest in the dying and death of his saints. In detail after detail it was simply overwhelming to see how the Lord himself took a hand in it all; and his love and his care, displayed in these countless small tokens of kindness and in all of the meaningful details which marked out those days - it was his love and his care which I found hardest of all to be handling.

When I cried I think people thought the tears were tears of sadness: but in truth my heart was breaking more because it simply was not big enough to cope with the sheer, expansive volume of the Lord's so personal love which he displayed in such exquisite ways to all of us.

I came to realise what a wonderful, humbling and awesome thing it is that the dying and death of his saints is so precious to the Lord. He keeps his eyes on all the smallest details.

These past few days I've known that once again.

One of the huge and humbling privileges that I have is that of sharing with a family through their grief. And these past few days - perhaps as much as a week - I've shared with a family in their patient, loving vigil at their loved one's side: seeing a loved one slowly leave this life: saying goodbye and putting in words the things they have wanted to say.

To say that I have seen the Lord himself at work is putting it far too mildly. To say that I've been with a family who have been standing on holy ground is hardly conveying the size of the thing at all, though it gets at the heart of the matter.

I have seen all over again in the way that the Lord has attended to so many details, moment by moment attending to everyone's needs, speaking so plainly, ministering comfort and peace in such gentle and generous doses - I have felt all over again the force of that wonderful truth that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

To document it all would be, I think, intrusive. Sacred ground is .. well, sacred ground. It's a place for worship, not a tourist attraction.

The privilege is huge. The grace is greater still.