Spark of Faith

Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral is about to begin. The bells of the Basilica are ringing. I am reminded of the song "Three Bells". The chapel bells ring for Johnny Brown's birth; again for his marriage; and again for his death. Continuity; as it should be; not always as it is.

More of us than not, begin our physical lives in a hospital; and in most instances, end our physcial lives there as well. In our spiritual life we come of age in the Church and return there at the end.

And the cycle continues.

In these "celebrations of life" that the living carry out for the dead, it is the physical life that is commemorated. As the life is returned to the Church, shouldn't the celebration commemorate the spirit?

The spirit in all of it's glory; warts and all? For it is that story that the true character is exposed. The failings that are corrected; the acts of kindness that are revealed; the somber moments of failed faith and the consequences that ensue. The spark of the soul is like that of a fire. It may sometimes burn brightly and if not tended may reduce to mere embers; but with the grace of God and the acts of humanity, the fire is stoked and the spirit returns to the glow of faith.

As we connect with each other in our lifetimes, we share the spark of divinity; it is transferred in those moments of friendship, compassion and consolation. We share it through a tender touch, a wink of the eye and in the words of reprimand. It is together that the flame of faith ignites our souls. The flame burns most brightly in the face of forgiveness. Forgiveness of others, but more importantly forgiveness of self.

Before we make that last trip to the Church we must ready ourselves and set our souls free through forgiveness of self. As in life, it is the "brightest" that finds the glory in the Kingdom beyond.

Shine on.