Death is so intertwined with life in this world that it is difficult to see where one leaves off and one begins. Yet in Autumn the leaves on the trees that are set aflame by impending death remind us of the flaming passion with which God calls us to live our lives. A flaming passion that we can take with us as we enter eternity. Death is not an end. Death is a beginning. Death is another Birthday, a birthday into the life God means for us to live: united with pure Passionate Love, united with each other, united with the Universe.
Life here is only a taste of the Life awaiting us. The joy of our birthdays on earth is the joy that God loves us so much that He has called us as special individuals into being, called us to final eternal life. Every one of us has eternal worth!
On the birthdays of our deceased loved ones' lives, we can remember all their love for us, how they hugged us and kissed us, how they delighted us with their humor, how they inspired us with the good things they did. How much who they were impacted our lives; how much we miss them. We can't help asking Why did they have to leave us? Where have they gone? Are they still with us?
Of course they are still with us. They are with God. God is everywhere. God has made His home deep in our hearts and souls. Wherever God is, our loved ones are, so they live with God and us deep in our hearts and souls. We can never lose their presence. They are more alive and with us inside us than they are with us when we visit their dead bodies in a cemetery. Who they are is still the same, even more so! They have come into full flower, full loving intensity, full and pure unbridled, delighted life than they ever experienced here.
And so I can say with tears: Happy Birthday, Peter. We treasured you here.
We have faith that we will treasure you forever. Your birthday today was the beginning of a set number of years that prepared you for your final Birth Day into full, never-ending life. You reached that final Birth Day sooner than we did. May you and all who have gone before us into the Light of eternal lIfe pray for us who are still in the shadows, awaiting the Light of Christ. We can only see the truth dimly as we struggle and dream and dance and yearn. Hold our hands. Guide us home.