Speaking in the Light – A Time to Share a Cookie!

It has been an incredibly emotional last seven days! In one short week, I had to say goodbye to two wonderful men in our church who graduated to glory within a matter of just a few hours of each other.
Eugene Pashley was one of the godliest men that I have ever had the privilege to know and for 80 years he spread a contagious kind of influence that eternal legacies are genuinely made of. He was a man you hoped could be on your team and his wisdom was treasured to be in your corner. And I count my relationship with Pop Pashley as one of my biggest blessings since coming to Cape May County.
And also, although known as a quiet man, Elwood Garretson was a steady, consistent, loving presence in the life of his family and his community. As an honored member of America’s Greatest Generation, a WWII veteran, Uncle Woody’s value could be quickly measured by just one look at his cross generational family heritage that filled an entire row every Sunday at The Lighthouse.
These two men although today in a much better place and finally free again to run and jump and roam without pain, will be missed until that ultimate reunion day. A day that I lon
Why do we wait until it is too late to appreciate what matters most? Why do we so often labor at projects while ignoring the very people who make life matter? Why do we allow ourselves to become prisoners of our own day timers that don’t keep very good time anyway?
Why do we put off until someday the very things that we should be involved in today? Could you dance now in the middle of the day while you hear the music playing? Will you sing a song now while the radio plays your favorite tune? Could this moment be your moment to live?
I want to tell one very poignant and yet eye opening story that I am afraid reflects the nature of our culture. It goes something like this.
An elderly man was very ill, and lay in his bed attended by his hospice caregiver, fully expecting to die at any time. In death’s agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his wife’s favorite chocolate chip cookies wafting up the stairs and filling him with joy.
The smell was so overwhelming that he begged the nurse to summon his wife to his bedside. With labored breath, agony, and pain from his illness, he leaned forward and gazed into his wife’s face as she came into the room. She was obviously hurried and preoccupied and she appeared like she had about a thousand other things on her mind.
Mustering his effort, and through his parched lips he asked, “May I have one of those cookies you are baking? I know I am not supposed to, but I would love to taste just one!” “No!” she snapped. “They’re for the funeral.”
Thanksgiving is a week away. We are on the verge of another Holiday Season. Isn’t it about time you began to take time seriously to love the people you have been given an audience with while you can? Or will you wait until it is too late and be left with a batch of cookies and no one to lovingly desire one?
Write Pastor Rudy pastorrudytlc@comcast.net.