From A Loved One In Heaven

I would not have you grieve for me today
Nor weep beside my vacant chair.
Could you but know my daily portion here
You would not, could not, wish me there.

 I know now why He said, 'Ear hath not heard,'
I have no words, no alphabet,
Or even if I had I DARE not tell
Because you could not bear it yet.

So, only this - I am the same, though changed,
Like Him! A joy more rich and strong
Than I had dreamed that any heart could hold
And all my life is one glad song.

Sometimes when you are talking to our Lord
He turns and speaks to me Dear heart,
In that rare moment you and I are just
The distance of a word apart!

And so my loved ones, do not grieve for me
Around the family board today;
Instead, rejoice, for we are one in Him,
And so I am not far away.

Martha Snell Nicholson

2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

background and graphics by Mary Stephens
vintage graphic: unknown source