The Sounds of Heaven
Music
His wife having spent hours/days at his side has been
convinced to step out for an hour to eat, walk, to begin the process of letting
go, to allow him to let go.
The door has been respectfully closed by nurses. Together we waited in that mystical space
where the present & future, humanity & the transcendent are within the
awareness of human beings.
I plan to read aloud from the Bible and in preparation it
lays open on my lap. I breathe in and steal myself to read to him this last time, instead of words I begin to sing a song more beautiful than I
have ever heard before.
In the singing I come to know the presence of Angels who sing
as I do as they pass his spirit cradled in loving arms from his body to God.
As his spirit moves from one Angel to the next his spirit
grows stronger and his body relaxes, his breathing slows, my grief in that moment forgotten.
At some point I realize I no longer sing, tears are running down my
face and pool on the pages of the Bible in my lap.
The room is once again a space for the living. He lays still, breathing regular and shallow.
His wife enters the room knowing something has changed. Finding his body still alive she once again
takes up her vigil beside him with her head next to his in wait of the end. It came a few hours later.
I can hear the echo of the song the angels gave
me on edges of my consciousness and by faith I know I will hear it again. It will be in those moments when my spirit passes in the
loving arms of Angels to meet my God.
I want to thank Amy Paturel for her article “Playing on
Heartstrings” in the Nov/Dec 2013 issue of Spirituality & Health. She gave me the courage to share this very intimate memory.
Thank you Lord.
Paturel, A. (2013, Nov/Dec). Playing on Heartstrings. Spirituality
& Health, p. 33.
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