August 17: Part 2

August 18, 2009
God will not let your foot be moved; the One who watches over you will not fall asleep. Ps 121:3

He was unable to tell me about his family. Eventually, later in the afternoon, a relative called back and indicated that he had lived as a hermit for years and had estranged himself from the family. I felt sad. When I had prayed for his spirit to be commended to God, I longed for some meaning - some connection - some sense of someone who might have cared for him.

Today we went on a tour of the morgue. Yep, there was my new friend, in the cooler. Name was marked on the bag, identifying him from the several others who had been brought in from the county, for which this morgue serves. The forensic technician offered and we agreed, did we want to see one of the bodies?

Wouldn't you know that the one she pulled out was the one for whom I had prayed just 24 hours prior. I thought it would be gruesome, but it was not. There he was. The forensic technician shared with us her deep respect for each human being, and her marvel at how wonderfully bodies are made (I am not making this up!). She indicated that her motivation was to speak on behalf of those who could not speak on their own.

Even after death, my friend had someone who had not slept last night and had watched over him to determine the cause of bodily death.

In what ways have you experienced Love's enduring presence, today?