Bridging the Gap

The days running up to the Services for the departed are always filled with sudden recollections. Visions of people, places and events from my life, links to people long since passed away or perhaps only recently deceased. I believe these experiences are indications from souls who do not want to be forgotten. They are linked to the services for the departed which regularly take place in my faith. One of these services was held today and signified a special day of blessing for all departed souls.

The biblical reference to Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) testifies to the significance and necessity of redemption not only for the living but more importantly for the departed. The bridging of this life and the after-life was made possible when the Lord sacrificed his own life on the cross. After he overcame death he was then able to visit all those departed souls right back to Noah’s time who were still suffering in eternal captivity. At long last they were able to receive the necessary blessing to move away from imprisonment and towards freedom.

This in turn means that stepping from this life to the next does not mean the end but only a transition to another state of being. People who have only stepped outside our path of vision but are not beyond reach or hope, and many souls totally unprepared for death, who still need our help.

Human beings are limited by their reasoning. How far does your imagination reach when you think about “eternity”.  What does that word conjure up in your mind?

The Lord often taught and spoke about eternal love and life. Physical health was of secondary importance to him – but the health of one’s soul and spirit was of the utmost importance.  Nicodemus, a Pharisee ruler, recognized the Lord’s divinity and mission and asked him what was needed in order to be with God eternally. His answer was “… unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” He then went onto say that “that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which in born of the Spirit is Spirit.  Meaning that physical life is born of the flesh and dies away but the spirit is born of the Spirit and is therefore eternal.

The souls who come to these special services are aware of this when they are invited by the living through pray to come and participate in the forgiveness of sins. This in turn gives them the key to salvation and eternal life with God.

A prerequisite for salvation for souls both living and dead, is that we must be able to close the door on the past, forgive others, accepting you have been forgiven, forget and just love.

Light after darkness; happiness after sorrow; healing after pain; crown after cross; life after death.

It’s still possible to make a difference if we can see beyond this world and into the next.

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