Look for the Trailing Beauty

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Look for the Trailing Beauty 

“Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.”

― Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart

Some periods of our life are extremely difficult. They are hard to get through, hard to endure. 

Nearly 20 years ago, my father passed away from cancer. It seemed so unfair. He was a good man who tried to do good in this world. He was also a good steward of his health, had regular checkups, ate reasonably well, got a reasonable amount of physical activity. Cancer didn’t care. 

Shortly before his death, my wife and kids loaded up in the PT Cruiser and we drove from Chicago to Florida for one last visit. He asked me to preach his eulogy when the time came. I could hardly take the words in. 

On the way back home, on a beautiful summer day, we stopped for a much needed rest. As the kids ran and played I saw the trailing beauty of it all. My father had lived long enough to see me grow up and thrive, to be much like him a husband, a father , a bi-vocational pastor. 

His time on stage was closing. But the trailing beauty of the life he lead would go on in me. Peace be with you. 

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