On Wednesday, May 3, Sr. Rosemary invited us to celebrate
Sr. Lou Whipple’s 51st birthday with chocolate chip cookies in the lunchroom. Sr.
Lou died in March, but it felt appropriate to feast in her honor as she herself
was celebrating at the heavenly banquet. As George Eliot said, “Our dead are
never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.”
Willie Nelson echoed this idea in a tribute song to the late
Merle Haggard: “He won’t ever be gone / His songs live on / We’ll be singing
him back home from now on / He won’t ever be gone.” I can imagine Jesus’ disciples
saying this to each other in wonder after they encountered their risen friend: “He
won’t ever be gone!” Their ears were opened to a new understanding of his words,
“I will always be with you.” Perhaps they even sang a farewell song to Jesus as
he ascended on his way back home to his Abba.
“Happy Birthday to You” should be part of our repertoire as
we sing our loved ones back home to God—what better way to commemorate both their time
on earth and their new life in the Spirit? So happy birthday, Lou—we rejoice in knowing that in the tree
of life, our roots are forever intertwined.
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