For reasons I cannot explain, I felt I needed to pay my respects at a friend of a friend father’s funeral. With the service held at home, as I walked up, I realized that I was a few minutes early. Normally nobody would notice, but in this case there was a small group of close family and friends gathered around the two sisters at the dining table while the father was a rest in the entry porch nearby. I hesitated. I could see that the one person I knew was not here. I continued as the family dog and sister came out to meet me.
“Can I help you?”
“I am a friend of your brother. I wanted to pay my respects.”
We chatted about her father and our backgrounds. There were two surprises. First, her husband was from the small community where I had gone to high school in Singapore. Same church, a shared language and culture. Second, her favorite book was “Chasing the Monsoon, a Pilgrimage through India” by Alexander Frater. She and her sister fell in love to the degree that they had made several trips to India to trace the start of the book and monsoon in Kerala. The remaining to-do item was to visit Shillong and Cherrapunji, two places in northeast India where the book ends.
As I shared my memories of of visiting Shillong and Cherrapunji, I found myself encouraging her to take the time to go. As we talked about the past and present, it was as if all the old voices, good and bad. that I had run away from years ago were stopping by for a visiting. For the sweet reminders, I found myself quietly and thankfully nostalgic. For the ugly ones, I found myself remembering an old complaint; What about “the taunting jokes of your enemies, God, as they dog the steps of your dear anointed?” (Psalm 89.51)
Life’s threads bind our hearts and lives together in surprisingly unique ways. With each, there is an opportunity to share, travel together, and support each other’s journey.
