I don't normally go for walks outside after it gets much below 50, but today - while it was only 33℉, it was a calm day and I thought taking a walk outdoors would be a excellent start to the new year.
I often enjoy walking in the local cemetery because it's fairly private, and quiet. And if I don't feel up to a long walk, I can simply park my car anywhere and walk as long as I want on the many intersecting roads and not ever be very far from my vehicle. That was a good plan for a day I didn't know how long I could tolerate the cold.
That said, I found myself wishing I'd chosen another option, simply because a cemetery seems a less than optimistic place to begin a new year.
On the other hand, I was surprised at how many people were visiting graves today. As I walked, I avoided passing closely to those visitors, but I could see well enough to not see people out beside the graves. People were evidently sitting in their vehicles - yet feeling the need to visit a lost loved one on this first day of the new year.
It struck me as rather profound. A day when some are working, but most are relaxing at home, and on a cold day like today, not too inclined to go out unless something is needed - as was evident by the many sparse parking lots I passed while driving through town.
I understand. I don't know the stories behind the visitors to the graves, but I can imagine that going to the graveside of a loved one today was exactly the right thing to do for whomever it was.
And for one who calls herself a Christian, who too often fails miserably to that calling, simply walking the paths there, I am soberly reminded whose I am.
He will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away
the tears from all faces;
He will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth...
Isaiah 25:8
Amen. I love the last verse. We look forward to that day!! And yes, I suppose it would be a special day to visit loved ones' graves, starting out another New Year without that dear one near. I am not one to visit graves much...I kind of visit my departed loved ones in my mind and heart quite often and keep them close that way. They don't seem so far away and I don't think of them as being in a grave. I know where they are...alive and well in their heavenly home, where there is no more sickness or sorrow for them. I prefer to think of them that way...running free in the fields of heaven, with smiles of joy and laughter on their faces, and walking with Jesus in the heavenly gardens. That works for me, but it may not work for everyone, and each person needs to do what seems right for them.
ReplyDeleteI pray you and yours have a blessed and beautiful New Year!!
I think that is profound!! It's wonderful to trust in God's mercy 🫂
ReplyDeleteWalking in a cemetery does have a calming vibe. Cold here at 5°F, walking for me will have to wait.
ReplyDeleteMay
Thank you for reminding me that walking in the cemetery is a good thing. We always go just prior to Christmas and put an artificial poinsettia on the graves of our parents but this year we couldn't get into the little cemetery where my parents are because the snow was too deep. Perhaps a lesson there is that we should try to go in November and not wait until mid-December.
ReplyDeleteBecki, I find cemeteries a good place to visit (that one looks great for walking) because it is a good reminder of the common fate of us all.
ReplyDeleteOne of the lamentable things (including lamentable on me) is that we no longer think on death like we should. Something like the Japanese festival of Obon where the dead are remembered annually (including by the visiting of graves) would likely serve us well. We are so much in the here and now we forget there is a then as well.
In the town where I grew up, the cemetery was a popular place for parents to teach their kids to drive. It makes sense, with little traffic and meandering roads.
ReplyDelete