The Wake

In Monday's post I commented that I had a friend whose mom recently died of cancer.



I was able to take some time off work yesterday to attend her wake. To be honest, I didn't know her at all. I never even met her. But my friendships, the few that I have, are dear to me in a way I can never truly express to my friends. At the very least, I had to be there for him, just to let him know I was thinking of him.



It was an interesting wake. It was held at his fathers house, and I got to meet the rest of his family. My friend took me on a tour of his house, and showed me all the crafts his mother was into before she passed. She was only 65.



I stayed for a few hours. My wife stayed a bit longer as we both took seperate cars from our workplaces. When she finally got home last night I could tell she was upset and had been crying. I inquired as to why, and she said that there was a little 'drama' between one of the sons and the father, and it turned ugly. Surely emotions were strung out enough from recent events, and I suppose when you mix alcohol, anything can happen.



My wife said she was sad because she thought the mother was looking down at her wake and seeing one of her sons arguing with his dad.



I told her not to worry, that I doubt she was looking down upon the events at her former house. My wife countered, "What? You don't think guardian angels look after us?"



Whoa...I explained that Guardian angels are completely diffrent from the departed souls of humans. Angels are also God's creation, and yes, while I do indeed believe they do exist and watch over us, it is because God created them in spirit form and gave them various tasks, some of which include watching over us and possibly intervening at times in a supernatural manner, but by no means am I aware of any biblical support of humans looking back down on us.



I never really though of this before, and it just seemed to hit me last night. My whole life I've heard or just accepted by proxy that 'my grandfather' or 'my grandmother' was looking down upon us, smiling. I hear people say that all the time about children and sibling that seem to die before what seems an acceptable timeframe for us....and as a way of comfort....we, the still living say things that may ease others pain. It's only natural, and probably means no harm what-so-ever.



But are they looking back down on us? I don't think so. Once we die, we hopefully open our eyes in 'paradise'. I'm sure we have much other things on our minds...the sheer beauty of His creation, new sights and sounds, and sensations man cannot even put into words. There is peace, and joy, were tears are no more....Why would anyone look back upon us down here and be concerned? If anything, they may be waiting for us to join them....and not waiting in an impatient sense...but looking forward to the time when we join them for all eternity.



Speaking of time...I'm not even sure there is time in paradise. I think when we leave our mortal shells, we are beyond time. Our lives are but a twinkling of an eye, a lingering morning mist that disapears just as quickly as it was formed. Sure...to us she has only been gone less than a week, but to her....she has already experienced an unquantifiable period in her new glorified body. When her sons finally pass...whether that a few years or decades from now....if they too find themselves in 'Paradise', I think the mother will be there with open arms and quite possibly to her, a mere blink of an eye may have passed. That is if we believe that Paradise and the one day completed Heaven is outside of conventional time. To our loved ones that have passed so many years ago...perhaps by their new frame of reference, they just turned there backs momentarily and we just arrived.



But to think our loved ones take a vested intrest in our day to day trivialities....I don't see that happening. Christ is with us, God is with us, the Holy Spirit lives within us, the Angels are aware of things that God allows them to and can watch over and protect us by His willing. But our deceased souls...No...I'd like to think they are on to much joyous things and it just keeps getting better and better with each passing second (by our frame of reference), and someday we'll all be together as well.