A Year's Absence

It often happens that a minister loses a spouse. This is a post I shelved. It looked back over the first year after my wife Mirjam's death, and reflected on how her death affected the Church. She was deeply involved in the Church. 

• Mirjam, as her health declined, put great effort into brief appearances in the Church – and so the Church did not see what I saw. She was approaching death. Thus the Church may well have been more shocked than I was when she died. 

• There was grief in the Church when Mirjam died, which would not go away – and little was said. One member said to me, “When Mirjam died, we all died.” 

• But members were astonishing in the way that they reorganised the Church – and they in turn said that Mirjam did a lot to see to that before she died. There was great determination to carry on.

• Then, after several months, disheartenment and negativity set in. But this was just a phase, which we exited with new vision -- not least, with the faith that God was with us. 

• Amazingly, a year after her death, the Church had a budget surplus  – an indication of spiritual health, too. While some momentum seemed missing, many groups and functions in the Church were truly thriving: youth, young adults, women, Sunday teas, an associate Church, and more. 

OBSERVATION: This was Year One. In Year Two, her absence became apparent in different ways. Perhaps in a future post.