Dear Friends,
I have been writing for Indian Life for around 16 years, so I often feel like I am writing to friends, even though I have not met many of you. For the March/April issue, as I could not pull enough creative thoughts together to write anything. My father died of COVID-19 in January, my last living aunt died a week later, and that same week a friend here collapsed unexpectedly and died. She had recently been to my house sharing some Christmas baking. She had looked perfectly healthy. Another friend, who had taught me God's Word 50 years ago, and who had always had a heart for the underdog also died. He seemed too big and full of life to die.
I had been writing a series about God's miraculous wonders that are so familiar to us that we take them for granted. As I worked through my sorrow, I came to value another wonder-it is all of us. Each of us is unique and no one can replace anyone else. No two people have exactly the same personality. I wonder how billions of people can each be so different. How is it possible to take two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two ears, some hair and make billions and billions of combinations? How can there be so many different fingerprints? How can there be so many voice differences, instantly recognizable by friends, family and fans?
I can't hike up a mountain trail or skate on a pond anymore, but my fingers can type out these words. Think of the different muscles and skills we need to do all the things we do. We breathe, eat and sleep and each function is a miracle. Just think about what our eyes and ears do in connection with our brains. It is really too great for me to comprehend.
To me, the greatest wonder of all is that we are spirits living in physical bodies. Our bodies die, but our spirits go on for eternity. This thought is a comfort to me. In the midst of losing other loved ones, my brother, who is ten years younger than I am, told me that the doctors are giving him only one to two years to live because of cancer. I think I am struggling with this more than he is, or maybe he is just trying to comfort his sister. I expressed my distress with the whole thing and He promised to pass on my disapproval to the Lord as soon as he gets home. It comforts me that he still has some sass.
Life would be cruel if we had no hope for eternity. What a tragedy to spend a lifetime loving people only to lose them in the end! Dad became a Christian in his later years. He became generous and kind. Dad lived in the States, so with border closures and lockdowns, we talked on the phone a lot. He was doing well, but he was 96, so we often talked about our upcoming move to heaven. (I'm getting older so I too want to know where I'm going.) The Bible has a lot to say about heaven; one of my favourite scriptures is John 14:1-3.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
We recently celebrated Easter; well, sort of with all of our isolating. I am always amazed that the One who filled our planet with wondrous things also came and paid the price to set us free from the darkness of sin so that we could walk with Him now and for eternity.
Take Care, Friends.
Sue Carlisle grew up on
the Wind River Reservation
in Wyoming. An enrolled
member of the Ponca Tribe
of Nebraska, her passion
is to encourage people to
look at creation and see
our awesome Creator. Sue
is author of Walking with the Creator Along the Narrow Road . She and her husband, Wes, now live in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
