If ever there is a lesson from the recent tragic events it is this: embrace your loved ones and telling them you love them...time is fleeting and we simply do not know how much is left.

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9

If there is anything that all grieving people have learned in the recent days it is this: time is fleeting, we simply do not know how much of time we have left. Philando's mom knows that all too well as she prepares to bury her baby in the midst of media attention. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she would outlive her child. None of us do for that matter. Thinking she would help her son celebrate his 33rd birthday, she is now left with the emotions of remembering all of his previous ones.  

Thinking she had a lifetime of future memories with her son, with grandchildren and his friends, she is forced to reconcile not only the primary loss of her son but all the secondary ones she got to know through her son. Her son's death has forced all of us to seriously look at the dangers of racism.

Life is fleeting. The occasional  losses we all encounter is a reminder of the importance of embracing those still with us. Stephen Stills, lead singer from Crosby, Stills and Young remind us of that thought with his lyrics from 'Love the one you're with'.  Although this song is primarily about girl-boy relationships and their heartaches, it is a song about cherishing those still with you. 

Well there's a rose in a fisted glove

And the eagle flies with the dove

And if you can't be with the one you love, honey

Love the one you're with

You gotta love the one you're with

You gotta love the one you're with

You gotta love the one you're with

This is often  harder  to do in life when our minds drift back to the ones who are no longer with us, and not on the ones still in our lives. 

This is, perhaps, the cruelest thing about life.  We are born and celebrated for the first 15 years of life with festive birthday celebrations filled with balloons, streamers, noisemakers, and lots of fanfare from family, but the partying ceases when those we previously knew in this life gradually begin disappearing, leaving nothing but the memories of them to fill our minds. We dwell on those memories and forget the ones still very much alive.

In the midst of pain and suffering, there is hope. God understands what you are experiencing when you look into the casket of your loved one. He is making it right for you. You may not see it now, but He si reminding you that the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ, has made it possible for your love one to spend eternity in heaven while promising to give you the gift of the holy spirit to help you weather the pain of your loss.

So next time your mind drifts back  to the one who no longer is with you, learn to embrace the ones still here and tell them how much you love them. Remember, all of us grieve.  Life is about saying goodbye to friends and family as they step off the moving sidewalk of life while saying hello  new friends brought to you on your journey.