Today the church is very active, full of people preparing to celebrate the life of our dear Scott Hughes. It is a day of celebration and struggle. I look at his smiling face as it appears on the screen or in the bulletin and I feel the wild mixture of gratitude and grief. We have been so blessed and we feel the pain of losing him acutely.
And this is life, and there is no way around it. This is the blessing and the cost of loving, of being beloved community, of sharing one another’s lives. And we would have it no other way.
And then on Sunday we will encounter Jesus on a hillside above the sea of Galilee where he will gift us with the Beatitudes- the blessings. Blessed are the poor in spirit, mourners, meek, hungry, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted. And it finishes with “blessed are you…” Blessed are we when we find ourselves in these hard and vulnerable ways. These are times when we may not feel particularly blessed. These are times when “hard done by” might come to mind and heart. But Jesus is pointing us to a different reality in these times. Deep within the struggle there is a gift. Deep within the grief there is a love wrapped in longing, sadness and gratitude.
Today we know this to be true as we celebrate Scott. Sunday we will have the opportunity gather at the table, and reflect on the blessings that come in hard times. And by God’s grace, we will encounter the grace of the gospel again.