"O death where is thy sting?"

Mom loved Handel's Messiah. I don't know when or where she would have been first introduced to this beautiful classical piece of music. She had attended Messiah College when it still offered high school courses many years ago and I can't help but wonder if it was there that she began to appreciate "The Messiah". Having been left some money following her mother's death, she purchased a stereo and then a record of "The Messiah" when I was of age 9 or 10. My first response to hearing Mom's special music, was to intensely dislike it for reasons I'm not entirely sure of. However, eventually I developed a love for it. I love the beauty of the music and the power of the words which have been derived straight from the Scriptures. I have been fascinated by the story of how quickly it was composed by Handel in just 24 days. I have developed the tradition of listening to it every year on Christmas Eve day, which is usually a day set aside for baking mincemeat tarts, tourtiere and other delicacies of the season.

When Mom's health had eventually declined to the point where it was obvious that there would be no return, it seemed only fitting to have "The Messiah" playing close to her bedside. And so it was. Over the hours preceding her death, as her life was slowly but surely ebbing away, the beloved sweet familiar strains of "The Messiah" were softly playing. Her laboured breathing finally came to rest, and the music continued on.

"O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
1Corinthians 15:55-56

"...finished the course..."

Many years ago when I was a teenager, Mom went away to Western University in London, Ontario to take a course related to her beloved nursing profession. She spent a week or so there, did her studies, then "finished her course."

On June 16, 2008 it could be said again that Mom "finished her course". This time it was a course that was the most difficult one of her life. Over the past 10 years or perhaps longer, her health began to deteriorate. The diagnosis of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy was given and she began a life with many new challenges. Having lost her balance and subsequent to many falls and resulting injuries, she became confined to a wheelchair. Her ability to see was affected due to limitations to the movements of her eyes. Her throat muscles became weaker and weaker causing gradual loss of her ability to speak and swallow. She spent her last 2 1/2 years in Gardenview Long Term Facility where she was lovingly cared for by the staff there. I was able to monitor her condition closely as I am the regular night charge nurse and to advocate for her when the need arose. My Dad, Merlin, lived in an adjacent apartment in the same facility and faithfully spent time with her 2-3 times each day.

But now she has "finished her course". She graduated, she was promoted to a Higher Place, to the place she had been preparing to go to for her whole life - to Heaven to be with her Lord and Saviour and many loved ones who have gone on before.