Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

By -

We live in a college town. That means that many of our friends are college students; more particularly, many of them are graduate students. (The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign being a Research I institution.) What this means for us is that many of these dear friends come into our lives for a period of approximately five to seven years and then leave as they accept jobs elsewhere.

Gretch and I have now been married for nine years, one month, and three days. (And yes, I am always counting.) Each summer we have said goodbye to friends as they have graduated and moved all over the nation (or occasionally even overseas). But this summer seems to have been particularly jarring, likely because many of our friends who have moved were people we helped move in and welcomed to our community, especially our faith community. They have been the best of friends; in fact, many of them are like family.

As I have dealt with the emotional roller coaster that has accompanied these departures, I have been comforted by the words of Karen Lynn Davidson's beautiful hymn, Each Life That Touches Ours for Good, written in 1985 and published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' hymnal of that same year, that has perfectly captured the many thoughts and feelings I have had over the past several months:
  1. Each life that touches ours for good
    Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
    Thou sendest blessings from above
    Thru words and deeds of those who love.
  2. What greater gift dost thou bestow,
    What greater goodness can we know
    Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways
    Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.
  3. When such a friend from us departs,
    We hold forever in our hearts
    A sweet and hallowed memory,
    Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
  4. For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
    Devotion to the Savior's name,
    Who bless our days with peace and love,
    We praise thy goodness, Lord, above.


To all of our friends who have departed, know that you are not to be forgotten! And, in the words of another beloved hymn, God be with you 'til we meet again!

Comments

EC Photography said…
Love it! Yes, we are checking out facebook and following our good friends :) We miss you guys. Thanks for this beautiful post.
E. and C.
July 23, 2017 at 10:15 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who Am I? On Iconography, Faith, and Self-Identity

By -
Image
In one of the great classic works of French literature, the author Victor Hugo tells the story of Jean Valjean, a man who spent nineteen years in prison, growing angrier and more filled with hate toward the world with each passing day. The first five years were for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving family, but then he suffered for fourteen additional years for attempting to run away. The story of Les Misérables follows his journey from his release from prison on parole to a life of service, sacrifice, love, mercy, grace, and, ultimately, redemption. In the musical adaptation of this story, a pivotal moment takes place early in the story when Jean Valjean, who had been gifted a meal and safe shelter for the night from a kindly bishop, gives in to temptation, steals the bishop’s silverware and runs off, only to be captured by the local constables. Valjean claims that the silver was given as a gift from the bishop but the police, not believing the words of a cri...
Read more

Make A Joyful Noise

By -
My father-in-law recently blogged about music, and lamented that Western society does not produce music except for the purpose of providing entertaining diversions. While I am sorely tempted to link to his blog, I will refrain. Rather, I wish to simply present my own thoughts on why I consume music. And consume it I do. I love music. I devour it. It is a part of my being. Gretch and I almost always have music playing in our home, in the car, and when we are working (and can get away with it). I do not know when my love of music first emerged, but I would argue that it has always been with me. My own father is a talented musician, although I fear there are times when this talent has been hidden from the world. Yet some of my earliest recollections of my childhood include Dad breaking out his amazingly awesome Martin D35 acoustic guitar and playing songs like "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens, "Boogie" by John Hartford, and various songs from the world of classi...
Read more

Who Are You?

By -
A thought has been running through my mind this morning and it doesn't seem to be planning on leaving any time soon. I have things I need to get done (such as applying for more jobs for the coming school year), so I am hoping that this may help me at least share the thought well enough that I can worry about other things. The thought is really more of a question. Who am I? Who are you? How do I define myself? How do you define yourself? So often in our lives, we have opportunities to introduce ourselves to new people. I've mentioned before how I have this habit of introducing myself as Alex Valencic but, if I am writing my name, it is always Alex T. Valencic. After sharing my name, it is inevitable that someone will want to know more about me, and the first thing they ask is what I do. How we respond to this question says a lot about what we think of ourselves, I think. When someone asks me what I do, I respond by either saying I am a teacher or I am a professional educat...
Read more