And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39

Labor Day, after we had enjoyed the Dog Show with Lynda and Ellie, we all drove to Winston-Salem to see Rebekah’s brother Roy.

Roy, who is still just 73 years old, has been struggling with his health for a while and is now receiving full time care. Finding the right solution is never an easy process but Lynda is grateful that he is safe and secure and fairly close to home.

So we visited on the patio and shared photographs and told stories about the grandchildren and the house and the church and Tarboro and other good things that help to define who we are; and as we were talking it occurred to me how anchored we all are in people and memories, and how unmoored we can be when we lose them.

Share the Stories!

This is why it is so important to share our stories, and to go over the old family photos, and to be kind and encouraging to the people we love – even when we don’t always like them. Because I am convinced that deep inside, even when sometimes we are old or unwell, and some of our neural pathways are frayed or tangled or eroded or blocked, that the stories remain. And all the clues as to who we are remain too.

And deeper still, in messages and experiences tucked into places that outlive memory and physical tissue and DNA or even breath, is the story of our creation and of The Creator who first imagined, designed and formed us in love.

Love is the deepest truth of all, and the deepest memory too. This is why we feel so alive and so complete when we love, and why we feel so profoundly hurt and lost and broken when our experiences of love fail.

Love is the deepest truth of all, and the deepest memory too…

But Love itself does not will not cannot fail, and if we know the Love that willed us into being then we know why and how nothing in all of creation can separate us from the truth of it and from its healing power. Not to make everything we are struggling with today right again, but to make us right in places as deep and real as eternal love and eternity.

So we know that Roy is part of a “Love that will not let him go.” And I know that for anyone who is struggling in any way – especially with situations that threaten to overwhelm you and undo you completely – that Love will not let you go either.

O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Joy that seekest me thru’ pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow thru’ the rain
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.

In love and because of love – DEREK