In the House of the Lord

On the passing of a colleague

On Saturday a colleague of mine passed away suddenly in a bus accident.

I did not know her well, but our offices were close together and everyday she would greet me with one of the warmest smiles you could ever see.

In true Kenyan style, she asked whether she should address me as ‘doctor’ or ‘daktari.’ I smiled and said of course not.

She managed our printing and she never complained with whatever task you asked of her, just doing it efficently and cheerfully.

Often when I entered her workspace to do my own printing, she would be working quietly at her desk listening to her favourite gospel music.

She loved her job so much she named one of her sons after the name of the building in which we worked: Dempsey.

Today, a document was found on her desk entitled, ‘Angels are preparing me for eternity.’

Yesterday morning, the first psalm of the morning prayers of the Divine Liturgy was Psalm 63:

You, God, are my God,
 earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
 my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
 where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
 and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
 my lips will glorify you.

There was also a brief memorial service yesterday that my wife and I attended.

The gospel reading was from John 14, where Jesus tells the apostles at the Last Supper:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jackie knew the way.

We sang the hymn ‘Abide with me,’ which was also sung at my mother’s requiem mass in South Africa last year:

Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

The priest then reflected on Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, even in the valley of the shadow of death. He is our shepherd in life, but also in death, and beyond. He is the Lord of both life and death.

Because of this, we may dwell in the House of the Lord forever.

As the priest spoke, I contemplated the print of a famous painting which hangs near the sanctuary of the church, Rembrandt’s ‘Return of the Prodigal Son.’

Art historian Kenneth Clark describes this as “a picture which those who have seen the original in St. Petersburg may be forgiven for claiming as the greatest picture ever painted.”

Why?

Because it depicts the destiny which awaits us all if we, like the prodigal son, remember our Father is waiting to welcome us home, and we turn our faces toward his house.

This is the house with many rooms, where Jesus prepares a place for us.

“Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her.”