A Celebration of Life

Good day, one and all.

When Nelly was planning and preparing for this celebration of the life and times of her dear and loving husband, Rusty Taguba, she asked me if I am familiar with a literary work, poem, or verse that I might be able to share with you all.
“Yes, I do,” I said. What instantly popped up in my head was Crossing the Bar, and I said so. Written by Alfred Lord Tennyson, he was dealing with his mortality. He poignantly expressed his relationship with the Divine Creator, whom he expected to see at the end of his journey. He aptly said it this way:

SUNSET AND EVENING STAR,
AND ONE CLEAR CALL FOR ME!
AND MAY THERE BE NO MOANING OF THE BAR,
WHEN I PUT OUT TO SEA,

BUT SUCH A TIDE AS MOVING SEEMS ASLEEP,
TOO FULL FOR SOUND AND FOAM,
WHEN THAT WHICH DREW
FROM OUT THE BOUNDLESS DEEP,
TURNS AGAIN HOME.

TWILIGHT AND EVENING BELL,
AND AFTER THAT THE DARK!
AND MAY THERE BE NO SADNESS OF FAREWELL,
WHEN I EMBARK.

FOR THO’ FROM OUT ARE BOURNE OF TIME AND PLACE,
THE FLOOD MAY BEAR ME FAR,
I HOPE TO SEE MY PILOT FACE TO FACE
WHEN I HAVE CROSSED THE BAR.

This poem correlates with Apostle Paul’s comforting words to the Thessalonians, as well as to all believers (dead and living), including us, which is recorded in 1Thessalonians 4:13-18,

BUT I WOULD NOT HAVE YOU TO BE IGNORANT, BRETHREN, CONCERNING THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP, THAT YE SORROW NOT, EVEN AS OTHERS WHICH HAVE NO HOPE. FOR IF WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, EVEN SO, THEM ALSO WHICH SLEEP IN JESUS WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM. FOR THIS WE SAY UNTO YOU BY THE WORD OF THE LORD, THAT WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD SHALL NOT PREVENT THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP. FOR THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT, WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL, AND WITH THE TRUMP OF GOD: AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST; THEN WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: AND SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD. WHEREFORE COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS. (KJV)

What a glorious promise of eternal life we can look forward to beyond the horizon. May the good Lord add his blessings to the reading of his Word.