This week my siblings and I prepared my mother\u2019s obituary. It\u2019s a challenge to\u00a0\u00a0 summarize a life of 88 years into an intelligible blurb that can be posted on a website and shared with a newspaper (which charges by the line).<\/p>\n
We decided to focus on three of her passions: family, church, and music.<\/p>\n
The practice of writing her obituary made me wonder about what she might have written about herself.\u00a0 Would she agree with the things we chose to highlight?<\/p>\n
And then of course it made me wonder if those who write my obituary in the future would be able to recognize my passions, my values, my principles. Do they know the parts of my life that mean the most to me?<\/p>\n
It can be a spiritual experience to contemplate our own obituaries. As we look back over the years, how has God been working with you, calling you to different roles and responsibilities, joys and celebrations? Have you found meaning in the traumas and tragedies you\u2019ve experienced? What questions about your life do you have for God? When have you felt closest to God and when have you felt like you were on your own?<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re so moved, I\u2019d be glad to read some of your thoughts and reflections.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?<\/em> Thanks be to God for your one wild and precious life.<\/p>\n In Christ, This week my siblings and I prepared my mother\u2019s obituary. It\u2019s a challenge to\u00a0\u00a0 summarize a life of 88 years into an intelligible blurb that can be posted on a website and shared with a newspaper (which charges by the line). We decided to focus on three of her passions: family, church, and music. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u2014Mary Oliver<\/em><\/p>\n
\nPastor Jen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"