5-8-2021: TRIBUTE TO THE HUSBAND OF A COUSIN – IN LIFE, “SUCH AS IT IS,” CONTEXT -- INCLUDING THE MUNDANE, THE GOOD, AND THE BAD, SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY

Introduction

May 8^th is Victory in Europe (VE) Day (for most World War II allies). The date falls on Saturday this year. Tomorrow is both VE Day (for the Soviet Union/Russia) and Mother's Day. “The Bad Swallowed Up in Victory” section will note a temporally sad event that will be tomorrow.

I take pen in hand to write about the events of this week. As in life, the week includes the mundane, the good, and the bad (swallowed up in victory). I will write topically.

The Mundane

5/2/2021, Sunday: it was Eastern Orthodox Easter. The Russians (Russian Orthodox) celebrated Easter (Resurrection Sunday, as I prefer to call it) on that day.

I still work at home Monday through Wednesday and at office Thursday and Friday. Mrs. Appalachian Irishman still drives to and from her job daily, by herself.

5/3/2021, Monday: I arranged my every-four-week chiropractic appointment during my revised lunch hour. My wife tried to keep our usual, about 4 PM, appointment. Various traffic congestion and a wreck (not her) delayed her. She got there late but had her adjustment.

5/4/2021, Tuesday: working from home, I decided to take a break, to get mail from the mailbox. My timing was perfect! The “speeding school bus” that comes around about 3 PM came by, while I was at the mailbox. I tried to flag him to stop, so I could ask him to slow down! He waved and kept going. I called the folks that control his income the next day. I wonder if that will slow him down.

The Good

5/3/2021, Monday: a friend, whom I have known since Walters State Community College days, attained another year older that day. Instead of calling, I e-mail him, including my friend, whom I can't recall ever not knowing. My friends and their families are doing well enough. We may get “the gang” together one of these days. We will see.

5/5/2021, Wednesday: I called my "adopted sister." She is nine years older than me. Her family and she live in Charleston, Missouri. I have written about them before. The anniversary of her birth was that day. I called after work. We talked over an hour. She has her “whatevers,” which are worse than mine. Her mother, who is my "adoptive mother," is doing as well as she can, considering her age. I spoke with her son (my "nephew") also. I wish time and distance were not so great. I'd like to see my Charleston, Missouri, family in person.

5/6/2021, Thursday: my youngest brother and his wife celebrated their wedding anniversary. They were wed on 5/6/2000. I performed the ceremony. I have written about the details before. I hope they had a good anniversary, for a work-a-day. The daughter, of my friend (mentioned above, whose birthday was Monday) and his wife, had her birthday on 5/6/2021. I think, if memory serves, that she attained the grand age of 30.

The Bad, Swallowed Up in Victory

5/7/2021, Friday: the age 85 husband of one of my cousins left this world, while their daughter held his hand. He was an outstanding man and Christian. His legacy will continue. I regret that time and distance, among other things, have not allowed me to see my cousin and her husband in several years. The last time that we saw each other was when another cousin and her husband held a family gathering, at their home. We all had a great time of reunion that day!

5/9/2021, Sunday, will be his memorial service. I doubt that we will be able to attend. I have been collecting shovel loads of tree pollen, for many days, in my throat. The loads are going away (as I state politely). I do not think it wise to share my tree pollen infestation (i.e., case of the snots) with anyone, tomorrow. I will be present in mind, heart, and spirit. I hope to be able to speak with my cousin, by phone at least, soon.

Conclusion

Johnny Cash & Family sang “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” As an age 10 boy, I remember family talking about “the circle” being broken, when Papaw Ferrell passed. There was sadness. Since then, many others have broken “the circle” more, by their passings.

The heavenly “circle” is becoming more completely formed. The husband of my cousin is the most recent one to join that heavenly circle. His loss in this earthly circle is sad. His presence in the heavenly circle is joyful.

“Will the circle be unbroken by and by, Lord, by and by. There's a better home a-waiting in the sky, Lord, in the sky.”

The inspired apostle Paul has written, centuries ago, by which I conclude:

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. Not all flesh is the same: people have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “the first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:35-58, NIV.)