Goodbye Deela, for a time

Jan 7, 2007Uncategorized

I didn’t know her well, but she impacted my life. She seemed to live life in one continual thin place. The Celts spoke of thin places where the line between the natural and supernatural was uncommonly thin. Since Deela was diagnosed with cancer, she lived perpetually in a very thin place, as if she could see Jesus, touch Him, hear His secrets.

She’s doing all those things right now: seeing, touching, hearing Jesus. The veil, albeit thin for her, has been rent gloriously in two. She’s brand new, alive, hope-filled for eternity.

Deela, a missionary in the Hague, embraced Him Saturday evening, leaving behind three grieving children and a husband. But more than that, she leaves behind pieces of herself, the very best of pieces, the kinds of pieces we should all strive to leave behind:

  • connectedness to Jesus Christ
  • an understanding that there’s more to this life than what we see with our eyes
  • love
  • dedication
  • joy

Deela, though I’m thousands of miles away from your home, we once shared a continent, and I was blessed to share conversation. I will miss you. But I look forward to the Day when we will chat again in the light of what is really real, on streets of glassy gold. But oh the wait is bittersweet for those you’ve left behind.

Hello will come sooner than we all think.

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