Cemetery Comfort

I have an issue or I would like to think that it is a feature - I love cemeteries!  Call me creepy, but there is something comforting about cemeteries.  My children think that I can sniff them out whenever we are driving.  They know that if I have time I will stop and take a peek, okay it might be a quick drive by or it could be a hour visit.  My favorite cemeteries are the old small town sites.  I told someone recently why I like them, they viewed them as a place where people are buried while I looked at them as places of stories and history.  Last month I stopped at a small cemetery on my drive back from Jackson Hole and Bear River...

I was struck by the simple grave maker in the picture on the left.  It had no real marker, just what you see.  The original marker may have been destroyed or had been rotted away by the elements.  This marker told me that the person was loved and that maybe the family didn't have the money for a headstone, so this simple metal pole and heart shaped dried vine makes the memory of the loved ones last resting place. 

The photo on the right reminds me of having peace in your soul.  Although people come and go from this mortal life, the solitude and peace we can get from remembering them and their meaning in our lives can be a constant reminder that life is short so show love to all that may pass your way. 

I was a cemetery today, it was quiet and peaceful.  I sat for a minute on the grass and then layed back and looked through the trees and watched the sun dance through the leaves.  Although it might have seemed like I was alone, I was not - peace, love and joy filled my heart as I felt the blessings that I have in my life. It has almost been ten years since I received the news that I had cancer, to some it might have felt like a death sentence, to me I just said "I can do that, bring it on".  I think it was then that I realized the shortness of our life here on earth and I wasn't about to go out with out a fight.  I straighten my shoulders, put a smile on my face and plunged head first into a year of tears and trail.  The Lord was with me the whole way He was my  constant companion.  He carried me when I could no longer carry myself.  It is because of Him and His love for me that I love others.  I love others as they should be loved, no judgment, no doubt, no preconceived ideas of who they are what they should be doing - just pure love. Today I realized that I too desire that kind of love and while I was in the cemetery I felt it!  Strange place to be, but sometimes feelings are strongest when you are in a place of sanctuary and peace.