Dear Friends,
During the past Sunday worship, we said goodbye to two of our church members as they relocated themselves to Vancouver. I could not help but think about the times I said goodbye.
My recent significant goodbye was with my previous congregations in Port Elgin/Burgoyne after serving 15 years. Then, there was the goodbye to a congregation in BC that I served as a youth pastor 16 years ago, the goodbye to my family and friends in Korea as my venture for Canada began 26 years ago, and the goodbye to my father, who died of cancer 30 years ago.
I had a chance to remember all the goodbyes I witnessed as a pastor with many loving families. I also thought about some of the future goodbyes I have to embrace. Some goodbyes came with blessings, and other goodbyes I am still struggling with.
Yet even the goodbyes I struggle with often provide the inner strength I need to go on. Our loved ones don’t stop blessing us even after their goodbyes. Thinking about goodbyes reminds me that I cannot take anything for granted in life. I know what I need to do today is to go out for dinner with my family and to call a friend. May God’s blessing be upon our goodbyes with our loved ones.
—Rev. Chuck Moon
Photo credit: “Lake Huron Sunset” by Kevin M Klerks. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Taken from the Wikimedia Commons.
A version of this message first appeared in the Friday, May 27, 2022, edition of Tidbits.