GRATITUDE IN A TIME OF DEATH…
“Jesus replied, “People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.”” - John 4:13-14, New Living Translation Bible
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.” - Psalm 116:15, King James Bible
Yesterday, November 27th, at 2:00 in the morning, our two-week old cancer-stricken sister, Pacita, finally died. She was 62 years old. I have no exact knowledge of how long she battled with the dreadful disease, but for one thing, in her last 3 weeks, she had always hoped for something better for her soul.
Pacita, as her sister Dory relates, asked for prayers and scriptures to be read for her in her death bed. She would ask for water, as she feels physical thirst, but more than that, I am deeply moved by her thirst for God’s word in her dying hours. As people around her pray, she would try her best praying with them creating sounds that only God would understand. My Mom, during their bible studies, shares that every time she and the other sisters sing songs to God, Pacita tried her best to sing with them – sing with them with songs that her ears had heard for the first time but I believe her heart had sung and longed for some time.
Dory, by God’s grace, is also a young Christian. Deeply impacted by God’s word during her dying sister’s bible studies, she herself decided to study the Bible, and two days after Pacita’s baptism, Dory then got baptized as well. She has a daughter named Belle, also a disciple, who now lives in the US. Belle and her husband have been praying and reaching out to Belle’s family here in the Philippines and true enough, Belle’s prayers for her family to know God is being answered.
I personally feel a mixture of emotions in my heart – joy, because not only Pacita had come to know God but her sister Dory as well, and at the same time, sorrow because I will miss Pacita. I had the chance of talking to her on the phone and it was such an encouragement to hear her voice without any hint of pain or suffering. I even hoped to see her alive and somehow continue our happy conversation. I believe it’s just this persistent hope that my heart always seems to fight for. The hope also that Pacita’s name made it to the Book of Life and is finally in a better place now is something that I fervently prayed for her, and I believe all of us share.
I will never forget Pacita. The impact she left on me and the changes she started in her family and the people around her this past month will always remind me of what I really need; what people like me, you, us – need. One day, we will all lie in our death beds, and just like Pacita, I pray that our ‘thirst be finally quenched’ by the One and Only source of the eternal water that will continue to spring up and quench others’ thirsts as well. I can only thank God for such privilege.
- Pinielle currently celebrates her fourteenth year anniversary with God and His Church.
Note: This article is also posted in DTSpace
