A Soul Faces Eternity

For a little over a month now, I have had a little "job" which was to visit an elderly lady in a home. Basically, I was to try to provide a bit of stimulation for her... I'd take her for a walk in her wheelchair or read to her in bed. I'd dust her shelves and water her plant. Sometimes I'd wait while she ate lunch and then I'd have to do my best to convince her that fresh air would be good for her. She always wanted to head back for a nap.

She was 85 years old, and was obviously frail. She was losing her memory and from week to week she would never remember who I was. Every week she would comment "You're a tall kid" to which I would always just smile and say "yup, I am". Every week on my walk I'd take her by the same pots of flowers and we'd stop to admire them. Every week I'd point out the lake to her in the distance. Every week after only about 10 minutes into our walk she would say "Okay, you can take me back now." Every week I'd leave her tucked into her bed all ready for her next nap.

Today she passed from this world, and her soul went from this temporal place to an eternal one. At first my human response thought more of the temporal.

Wow, I was just with her last Tuesday and she's not going to be there tomorrow as usual. She's gone from this life.

But not too much later, my thoughts moved to eternity. While this dear old lady had little will to keep on living in this life, today there is nothing dead about her soul. In fact, her thinking and understanding now is no doubt more clear than it has ever been. I don't know if she ever recognized the King of the Universe in this life, but she recognizes Him now. I am sad... not really because I miss her, but because I don't know where her soul is now and what she faced beyond this life. I don't know if today she met the Eternal Judge or her only possible Savior. It's a sobering thought. I am quick to get caught up in the here and now, but the only thing that matters in the here and now is living and investing for then... for eternity.