For Janelle

So, our sweet sister Janelle has shrugged off this shell. She has come home to that place which we all long for. We are sad and joyful at the same time. We know, we really know, that Janelle now exists in that plain of perfection. We know, we really do, that we will join her again, soon.

And God knows. When we send a part of our hearts to heaven, it helps to loosen our grip on this life. We now have someone waiting for us. Our hearts will ache for reunion. Our hearts will ache for Heaven.

It’s so human of us, at times like this, to speak of Heaven and our friend in the terms that we can understand. We say, “He’s hitting all holes-in-one,” or “He’s strumming lead in the most awesome band.” Or, in this case, “She’s moved into that great craft room in the sky.” We want to think that we can know what Heaven is like, for our friend and for ourselves.

C.S. Lewis said, in his space trilogy, that earth is, not sinful, not fallen, but BENT. What should be straight cannot exist. What should be easy to know cannot be known. Not here. Not ever. 

It is in Heaven that we will join with our God and the saints that have arrived ahead of us. It has been suggested that while we can dream, we cannot really comprehend. But let’s try; take our senses: in heaven, there are so many more colors, more than bright and dark, more than just those puny 7 from the ‘bent’ spectrum. Sound? So many that we’ve never heard before. Melodies and harmonies that blend and spin. Scents and tastes beyond our wildest dreams. And for our ‘hands,’ textures and shapes from that unbent somewhere else.

So for our sister, everything is not just better, but best. She, with her keen sense of style, can weave among glories as never before.

Everything is BEST in heaven.

We miss so much of what is Janelle. We will miss her smile. It lit up her face and it spread to all around her. How can that smile ever be better?

Can't imagine. But it is.