While Jesus was speaking to them, a ruler came and knelt in front of him, saying, “My daughter has just died. But come and place your hand on her, and she’ll live.” So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him. When Jesus went into the ruler’s house, he saw the flute players and the distressed crowd. He said, “Go away, because the little girl isn’t dead but is asleep”; but they laughed at him. After he had sent the crowd away, Jesus went in and touched her hand, and the little girl rose up.
Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25 CEB
I was just tall enough to peer into the casket and see my great grandmother. She was the most still I had ever seen anyone be, almost frozen in time.
As tears streamed down my face, I looked at her folded hands, hands that had held me so many times before. I thought I might reach out and grab one of them, but worried I’d feel her absence more than she’d feel my presence.
Someday, maybe sooner than we think, the Lord will peer upon her and wake her from the deepest of sleeps. She’ll rise up with all the wisdom of a great grandmother and all the energy of a young girl who’s holding the hand of Jesus.
Dear God, help us remain hope-filled, trusting always in Christ, the Resurrection and the Life. Amen.
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