As some of you will know, my owner’s mother passed away last September having reached the grand old age of 95. While she was still in her forties, she’d met a teenager from Germany called Helmut. Helmut was the friend of a friend, and before long, he travelled to England and stayed for a while to improve his English and to see what England had to offer. And a special friendship followed which lasted up until her death. Helmut had returned to Germany, got married and had a family, but he would always ring my owner’s mother up on Christmas Day to have a chat and to wish her a Happy Christmas.
It had been many years since they last met. Helmut had twice planned to travel to England so that he could visit her, but was twice thwarted by the Covid restrictions, and sadly she died before he could make it. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Helmut wasn’t brought up to be a church goer and had never really explored the Christian faith, but he’d come to realise that in his friendship with my owner’s mother, a kind of “spiritual bond” had developed which has outlasted even her passing.
So, some days before Easter, he sent an envelope through the post addressed to my owner. It contained 50 Euros and a message asking that her grave be covered in flowers for Easter Day. Any change could go towards a local Outdoor Church Fund.
It was a most beautiful and moving gesture. And it shows that humans can be touched in a spiritual sense even when they don’t always feel “spiritually alive.” God can work through us all in His own unique way, and that’s when we can sometimes sense something spiritual which transcends our worldly existence.
“There is divinity in every soul.”
(Lailah Gifty Akita: Ghanaian writer and evangelist).
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
(John 6: 63).
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