Saturday, February 2, 2008

the passing of a spiritual giant

Today was President Hinckley's funeral. He passed away last Sunday. He was an incredible man and a spiritual giant who had a huge impact in my life as well of the lives of anyone else with whom he came in contact. During the funeral there were several comments about the joyful reunion President Hinckley must be having with his wife right now. I kept thinking that our family friend, Lora, who passed away last month now has someone else to put their arms around her. He was our Prophet, the Prophet of our generation.
My Grammy passed away in 2003 when I was pregnant with Samuel. Her death left a gaping hole in my heart that has never really gone away. It feels like every tragedy I experience just rips out whatever patch I have used to fill the hole. Does that ever go away? I don't think it will, but I don't want to lose the mark she made in my life either. The sorrow I feel for president Hinckley's passing is also deep but in a different way.
The death of the Prophet is traumatic for the entire church no matter how old he may have been. However, with his passing comes a sense of peace. This church is God's church and he will not let it fall with the death of one man, no matter how great he is. And we know his legacy in the church will live on.
The following clip is one I received from a friend via email. It is a sweet tribute to President Hinckley by Glenn Beck, a fairly recent convert to the church. He puts into words what many of us feel at this time.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/

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