Meditate on the Last Things

By Ruth Ann Pilney

Autumn Leaves by Millais (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

Watching the beautiful autumn leaves fall reminds me of the temporality of earthly life. An excerpt from Bambi, a children’s novel by Felix Salten, is a dialogue between two oak leaves clinging to a branch high above the others.

     “So many of us have fallen off tonight we’re almost the only ones left on our branch,” said one. 

     “You never know who’s going to go next,” said the other.

     “Can it be true,” said the first leaf, “can it really be true, that others come to take our places when we’re gone and after them still others, and more and more?”

     “It really is true,” whispered the second leaf.  “We can’t even begin to imagine it. It’s beyond our powers.”

     After a period of silence, the first leaf said quietly to herself, “Why must we fall?”

     The second leaf asked, “What happens to us when we have fallen?  Do we feel anything, do we know about ourselves down there?”

     “Who knows?  Not one of all those down there has ever come back to tell us about it.”

     “Let’s not talk any more about such things,” said the first leaf.

     “No, we’ll let it be.”

Many people eschew discussing death, but at this time of year the Church encourages us to ponder such things: death and judgment, heaven and @#!*% , the end of the world, the second coming of our Lord and Savior, and the establishment of the Reign of God.  We wait in joyful hope!


Ruth Ann originally posted this at her blog From the Pulpit of My Life.

Suffering--get it while you can

By Patricia

The Lamentation  by Pulzone (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

An acquaintance of mine died last week.

I said a prayer for her when I heard the news, and then I whispered, “Pat, rest in peace. You have finished your work, completed your journey.”

I think about that journey a lot. My friend didn’t make it to the three score and ten mentioned in the Bible. We just never know.

There is something uniquely precious about living in our imperfect world. It is only an instant in even the longest of lives. What are a 100 years compared to eternity?  Yet, we have only this breath, this heartbeat of time in which to determine our eternal destination, and to labor for God’s Glory.

I, who do not relish suffering, still value it and this amazing moment in my existence when it actually costs me to offer something precious to God.

It is quite thrilling to be among the Church Militant, marching through the battlefield of life, buffeted by the blows of pain, loneliness, rejection, grief and a thousand other sufferings which we encounter on our journey.

I think how tenderly Jesus watches over us as we bear our wounds for love of Him.  His eyes never leave us and His Heart almost breaks with compassion.  Yet, when we are brave, and offer up as best we can these trials, surely He is so pleased, so very proud of us. 


Read the rest at Patricia's blog I Want to See God.