‘Grief is such a beautiful, wild beast.” -Amy Starr Allen
Today we said ‘Godspeed’ to our Grandpa, Great grandpa, Father, neighbor and friend.
Although there were many aspects of my Grandpa’s character to aspire to, one of the things people seemed to admire most was the faith he had.
My cousin Cylee told me a tender story of when she was visiting my grandma Carol just before she died.
Holding her hand she turned to my Grandpa and said…
“Do you believe?
Do you believe you’ll see her again?”
My grandpa responded with tears streaming down his grief-stricken cheeks…
“the scriptures say we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith.”
Maybe he didn’t ‘know’, and he maybe he wasn’t ‘certain’,
…but he had faith and was enduring his trial in the hopes he would receive his witness.
I find this incredibly admirable.
Will we choose to believe that life has meaning?
…or not.
Will we choose to gravitate our thoughts and actions towards the highest ideals possible?
…or not.
Will we choose to live our lives as if our actions actually make a difference, not just in this life, but perhaps the next as well?
….or not.
My #GrandpaFord lived a life of faith and it produced one of the greatest men I’ve ever known.
I think, if we’re doing life right – our age should make us more humble.
The more we learn the easier it should be to gain some small inkling of how much there really is that remains so far beyond our understanding.
It should inspire us with a sense of awe and wonder and divine humility.
And maybe this, then, is faith.
To not know for certain, but to live as if you do.
In a good way.
All my life I’ve been so proud to tell a friend just met that I was Ford Call’s grandson.
I’m still so proud to say that.
I love you grandpa. Please tell grandma that I love and miss her too.
Your grandson,
Paul
PS – The little guy in the picture above my son #KashtonHutchings and he had a special place in the hearts of my grandparents. Each Sunday he would leave the bench in church where we were sitting as a family and walk across the entire chapel and sit with my grandparents on the other side instead. I’ll always remember that and how they’d smile to see him showing his love for them.