“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”

Isaiah 44:6

“I am the first and I am the last.” “The resurrection and the life.” These particular lines of scripture resonate with me. The beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega for without a beginning how would there be an end. It seems to me they go together. Beginnings and endings, I thought a sentence, a story, a school year, a romance, a marriage, and life itself. Our lives have a beginning.

Psalm 139 tells us, “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” God is there. We have a mortal end when the “angels come to greet us and carry us home.” God is there. Jesus shared in this, our human cycle of life.

These are some of my thoughts during the time of the story I share with you. It was several years ago my daughter who lived out of town came for a visit. We stopped to visit my mother, her grandmother, in the nursing home on a sunny August day. My daughter was expecting a baby in December. My first grandchild, mom would become a great grandma.

Mom was happy to see us that day. Eyes wide, she raised a hand and pointed her finger in the direction of my daughter’s beachball shaped tummy. “It’s a boy”, she predicted with a great deal of conviction. Mom would never know how correct she was for she passed away that December. I remember saying to my clergy friend, “We have had the Omega, now we await the Alpha.” My grandson was born three days after her passing. An end but yet a new life for each. Mom returned to the loving arms of her heavenly Father. My grandson to the waiting, loving arms of his mother.

I love this little Celtic prayer. I do not remember the source. 

“On my heart and on my house, the blessing of God. In my coming and in my going, the peace of God. In my life and in my seeking, the love of God. At my end and new beginning, the arms of God to welcome me and bring me home.” Amen.

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash