Recently I posted an entry on a Flea Market held at our church.  Today I found out that one of our active members who was at the Flea Market had a massive stroke and by noon she had died.  Being a chaplain I get many calls about patient deaths.  This particular call affected me differently than the others because I had a connection to the patient that existed prior to her hospital admission.

As I went through the emotions and thoughts of processing the knowledge of her death I realized that what I was experiencing at the moment was probably very similar to what friends and family members experience when I am dealing with them as a chaplain when a patient dead happens.  I learned about myself, I learned how unsettling the realization was momentarily that none of us knows that for sure we will have a tomorrow here on earth.  Then I reached into my faith beliefs.  My faith tells me that whether I die suddenly or with a lot of warning that death will come – I will move from earth to heaven to be with my Lord and God.  I am very thankful that I have that assurance.  It is particularly important when events like the sudden death yesterday come along and remind us in a profound way that our life on earth is only temporary whether than temporary period is 2 days or 95 years.