Here are three beautiful versions of the Doxology
because I love the number three...
Father, Son , and Holy Spirit
Happy Birthday Momma. The last time I saw you, it wasn't really you. You had left your earthly shell, I am sure, and what was left was the body you had inhabited for seventy-six years. There was so much peace in that hospital room. I sensed that it was a holy moment...that mysterious transition between this life and the next. How does it happen? What does it feel like? You know. You know now.
All I knew to do was to worship. I sang the Doxology over your lifeless body.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
AMEN
How many hundreds of times had we stood in our Baptist church and sang that song together, you and I. You and me and Dad, too. We sang after every offering. We knew it by heart. When I close my eyes, I can still hear us singing together.
How grateful I am that you faithfully took me to church! I am so grateful for these precious memories. I am grateful for all that I learned during those years. I am who I am because of it. I am who I am because of you.
I can hear your laughter, too, when I close my eyes. It always made me smile. You even laughed when I threw a cup of milk in your face. You were teasing me about putting a note on the bulletin board at church about the long underwear I lost at the winter retreat. I thought you were serious. I was so mad I just tossed that milk right in your face. We were both shocked. And then, you laughed.
Today is your birthday. You would have been 86 today, had you stayed here. I cannot believe that you have been gone ten years! A whole decade in June. You have missed everything and you have missed nothing. I wonder sometimes if you are a witness to our lives or if you are blissfully unaware of life here. Either way, you are the wiser. You are where I long to be. And heaven seems a lot more real and much closer now...
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