I AM A MEMBER OF THE CLUB…
___
___
If man were immortal he could be perfectly sure of seeing the day when everything in which he had trusted should betray his trust, and, in short, of coming eventually to hopeless misery. He would break down, at last, as every good fortune, as every dynasty, as every civilization does. In place of this we have death.
Charles Sanders Peirce
___
I felt compelled to share an older post with you today! This one was originally published February 22, 2012.
___
The other day I was hunting through my purse for my keys which always seem to become lost in the bottomless pit that is my pocketbook. Finding my keys there is my job and mine alone these days. Once, if I asked Dan to get them, he’d take one look inside, perhaps even put his hand in and gingerly feel around, only to give me his exasperated look as he would carry my purse over to me to do the honors. And today, now that I think about it, he doesn’t even bother anymore with the attempt at searching…..he simply smiles that smile that says to me that a bout of dysentery would be preferable to actually putting his hand into my pocketbook, and he simply thrusts my bag into my outstretched arms! (Ahhhhhh, ain’t love grand?) Anyway, getting to the point here….is that the other day I actually found my keys by grabbing a fist full of little plastic cards that seem to challenge my keys as the rightful residents deserving of a place on my key ring. Now at last count, I have about 17 of these little cards verses 4 keys that are attached to my key ring. Each and every one heralds me as a member of the club. I have cards for supermarkets, appliance stores, home improvement stores, business stores and restaurants all vying for top billing on my key ring! Each and every one announces to the cashier as I check out, that I am a member of the club!
___
I am a member of another club too. It is a club whose membership I joined the moment I drew my first breath. Now while you may be thinking that I’m referring to the club of Christianity, I am not, although I am proudly a member of that one too. But unlike the other one I’m thinking about, the Christianity Club is not one that allows for an automatic membership to every mortal being. The Christianity Club is one where you seek membership only after accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. And the acceptance of your application to that one rests with God the Father, alone. No, the club I’m referring to is a club that is each and every human being’s birthright. And when you reach my age, it is a club of constant goodbyes, and sometimes a sadness so profound that it wants to swallow you up. It is the club of grown adult children bidding farewell to the ones who created the being that we are, raised us, instilling the values by which we live, educated us, clothed us and fed us, nourishing both our bodies and by introducing us to faith, our spirits, as well.
___
Within the last couple of weeks, I have had 4 friends lose a parent. The latest to suffer this loss was my best friend from High School, Cecilia. I remember marveling at her dad, his accomplishments and finding him a very fascinating person as I was growing up. And since Cecilia and I were joined at the hip back then, I spent nearly as much time at her house as I did my own! His death was expected although the actual occurrence still rendered emotions of bewilderment and shock and a profound sadness. Some of these losses other friends suffered, were unexpected. But all have united us as charter members of a club none wish was our singular honor! Yesterday, Dan and I witnessed “the Homecoming” of the wife of one of Dan’s closest golfing buddies. The service was a wonderful tribute, to a special woman, whose life, in all reality, had passed away earlier in her illness as she lost the ability to play golf and travel, something she dearly loved to do!
___
It is as it must be. This is something that each member of the Baby Boomer generation will be joining, like it or not, in the years to come. It is a club that I joined on January 31st, 1990 when my mother, Elaine Stafford Pierce, passed away! I was not quite ready to join but it was not within my power to delay my investiture. Our earthly time is finite and in the cessation of a heart beat, my mother was gone, and I was a member! From the moment we draw that first breath there is only one absolute for our lives. And that absolute is that our days are enrolled on some heavenly calendar we are not privy to and that is when we realize that the sole purpose for our lives is that we will, one day, be leaving those who love us so dearly here on earth. If we knew the time we each had, would we live our lives differently? Perhaps some would. But I believe that most of us would choose to seize the life force we are blessed with, and run with it. I believe each of us would want to live our lives to the fullest. I believe, however, we most probably would seek out an even more personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. I hope we would, because it is only through Him that our place is reserved and awaiting us in our next destination…..Heaven. And this too, is as it must be!
___
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 24:4 (NIV)
___
MandysPath 
