“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38)
One thing I appreciate as I travel is listening to those who have been in that place before. Who were they? What were they like? What did they hope for? As I see graves and memorials, I wonder who is not remembered in that way. Who died alone, or too poor to leave a memorial? At this cemetery in Carcassonne there are tombs and crypts marked “cared for in perpetuity.” What does that mean? How much did they pay for that? Who remembers? How long is perpetuity, anyway?
As a priest, a great privilege I have is to perform funerals and burials. These are not for the dead. They are for the living. And this passage from Romans says it all. Nothing can separate us from God. Not even death. And since none of us can be separated from God, neither can we be separated from each other. We are bound together, all of us. Those who have come before, those who live now, those who will come after. In perpetuity, because God is eternal.
Thanks be to God.
