Goodbye And Hello

“How lucky I am to have someone who makes saying goodbye so hard.”

-   Winnie the Pooh

This past week, Pam and I went on a road trip with my two sisters, their husbands, and my father. We left Chicago, traveled through the State of Wisconsin, spent 4 days in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, then drove back down through the State of Michigan to our hometown of Goshen, Indiana.

On one hand, the trip was simply an opportunity to spend some quality time together with people we love. On the other hand, however, it had the ulterior motive of spreading some of my mom’s ashes in Lake Superior near Grand Marais, Michigan - my mom and dad’s favorite vacation destination in the entire world.

While my mom went to Heaven five years ago, this was the first opportunity we have had to make this trip happen. There was a sense of closure, of finally saying “goodbye” to my mom. Indian author Ritu Ghatourey wrote, “Goodbyes make you think. They make you realize what you’ve had, what you’ve lost, and what you’ve taken for granted.”

But along with the “goodbye,” there was also a sense of joy: first of acknowledging the “hello” to the new world my mom knows in Heaven with Jesus… for all of eternity. She no longer has to struggle with the polio that robbed her of part of a lung and half of her trachea. She is whole and experiencing a joy I can only imagine. John the Apostle wrote in Revelation 21:4-5,

“He [Jesus] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Jesus said, “I am making everything new!”

And, in addition to her “hello,” there was also a sense of us being able to acknowledge the “hello” to a new chapter in our lives; of grandchildren (great-grandchildren to my father) entering the world and an excitement for what the future holds. Novelist Paul Coelho put it this way, “If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.”

So, for Pam and me, this trip was both a “goodbye” and a “hello.” It was an opportunity to say “goodbye” to my mom, but also a time to eagerly embrace the “hello” we have already experienced and the one that still awaits us.

As Jesus promised, “I am making everything new.”

Pastor Ken

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