from a house of marriage to a house of mourning

scripture tells us it is good to go into a house of mourning. well i did just that, along with many other friends and family, on thursday as we memorialized virgie, the mother of my friend harriet whom i've known since 7th grade. seems i've known for years the scripture from ecclesiastes 7:2 written by solomon, the wisest man in the world: it is better to go into a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting because that is the end of every man and the living takes it to heart.  but in the service i heard more about this from chapter 7. you know how you've read it or heard it before but then it pops out at you when you hear it again for some reason. this time what i heard was 7:1 the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth and 7:4 the mind of the wise is in the house of mourning while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.

what profundity. tuesday was the day miss virgie died and that was the best day of her life because she died and went into the loving arms of the Lord where her body was healed of all ills and she is seeing by sight now, no longer seeing by faith. oh for the glory of that! the only thing better for her, the preacher said, was being with all her family sitting together in the service. but he said they wouldn't want her to come back just for their grief with all she'd gained in her dying. 

Lord, please bless the grieving in their loss of virgie and as they make this huge adjustment to life without her. praise you that one more believer is in your Presence worshipping you for all eternity, free from sin and sorrow and crying and sickness and now instead of seeing in a mirror dimly virgie sees You face to face! help me each time i go into a house of mourning to reflect on the meaning of life and take to heart as solomon said the lessons therein. amen.