When I was a child there was a recreation area near my home. We, my siblings and I, were often taken to play on the swings, slide, and round-a-bout by our father.
I can very clearly recall, with no small sense of terror, sitting at the top of that slide and my body beginning to move downwards, down what looked like a long steep fall. As I began to slide the momentum began to build and, in that moment, I would have given anything I had to have gotten off. But there, at the bottom of the slide, stood my father and I knew he would catch me.
These past few weeks feel very much like being on that slide. I have been sliding down a long slippery slope. The momentum is building and there is nothing I can do to stop what is happening. There is a sense of terror and then a sense of being caught and held up, so as not to crash at the bottom of this slope.
These things I can tell you;
Prayer does sustain you. Prayer gives you a sense of God's presence, an all encompassing presence that brings its own strength and peace. There are prayers you pray for yourself and there are the prayers of those who pray for you. For me those prayers have been answered, many times over.
Living in a faith community can support you. Being cared for and nurtured and loved through a horrendous time, can only strengthen your faith in God's love coming through hands and hearts that reach out to you.
Nothing can replace Brian's presence in my life but you, each in your own way, have been so supportive and nurturing, that God has been very present to me in this time. I can only thank God for every one of you for I cannot ever thank you enough.