No More Goodbyes by Rose McCormick Brandon

Goodbyes don’t come easily for me. When moving meant saying goodbye to co-workers, I feared being swept away by sentimentality, weeping uncontrollably like I did at my graduation. In photos of that event my eyes match my bouquet of red roses.

I come from a long line of crybabies and I blame them, especially the Irish, for the maudlin gene. I need a dose of my Scottish friend's favourite rendition of goodbye - "Shove off!" Nobody at the office told me to shove off. They dripped kindness all over me. The memory of their hugs clings to my shoulders, a reminder of how blessed I am to have people in my life who make saying goodbye so hard.

Snoopy summed up my feelings about the word goodbye:

“Why can’t we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn’t work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say goodbye. I hate goodbyes. I know what I need. I need more hellos.”

Goodbye is a useful word, a short form of "God be with you." We use goodbye when we fly out the door to run an errand or to end a telephone conversation. We wave it, blow kisses with it, and even slam doors with it.

Goodbye always brings up questions: Where are you going? Can I come with you? How long will you be gone? When will you come back?

These are the same questions asked by Jesus' followers when He was making his goodbyes. (John 14:1-14) Jesus answered: I'm going to the Father. Yes you can come but not yet. Don't worry, I won't leave you alone. The Holy Spirit will be your constant companion. I'll get a room ready for you so you can come and live with Me. I'll be gone for what I consider a short time. When we meet again it will be forever.

Goodbye is an earthly word not an eternal one. We won't use it in our forever home with Jesus. No more goodbyes. Only hellos.

"I'm on my way to get a room ready for you. and if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live." John 14:3,4

 Rose McCormick Brandon is the author of four books, including One Good Word Makes all the Difference and Promises of Home - Stories of Canada's British Home Children. She writes personal essays and devotionals for several publications.

Good Friday Goodbye - Hird

What a joy to celebrate twenty years of the existence of the Deep Cove Crier. I remember twenty years ago when Wilf Fawcett of Fawcett Insurance approached me about becoming a columnist for the Deep Cove Crier. Wilf wrote a DCC insurance article for many years before retiring.

I had no idea when I agreed to start that I would be still writing for the Deep Cove Crier twenty years later. As I have mentioned to Bruce Coney the DCC Publisher, my recent award-winning book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’ is a direct fruit of sharpening my skills by month-in, month-out writing for the Seymour/Deep Cove Community. Thank you, Bruce and Gail, for opening this door in my life.

Writing and books have a tremendous influence on all of our lives. Sometimes the most powerful writing we do is when we say ‘Goodbye.’ Most eulogies at funerals are an opportunity to say Goodbye, to pay our last regards. Most of us say ‘goodbye’ thousands of times in our lives. Saying goodbye to our loved ones is always the hardest. As most of us are immigrants to Canada within the past number of generations, we know the story of how hard it was for ourselves, our parents or grandparents to leave our homeland and come to this strange land named Canada. My Nana Allen was born in Canada, but she still called England the mother country. She longed deeply for a land that she never saw until she turned 80. When the Irish left Ireland to come to the new world, many of their relatives had a wake, in effect burying them as dead.

Unless we learn to say goodbye from our hearts, we can never move forward in our lives. Many people will never let go. They easily become bitter, discouraged, and even physically ill. Letting go and letting God is not just a slogan. It is a vital key to restoring health in the 21st Century.

Jesus said ‘Blessed are those who mourn/grieve for they shall be comforted.’ Saying goodbye is the heart of genuine, healthy living. The term ‘goodbye’ is an English contraction of the phrase ‘God be with you!’ Why were our ancestors always saying ‘goodbye’ to each other? Because they wanted God to be with them. What better gift can we give each other that the gift of God being with them?

This month, we remember Good Friday and Easter. Jesus had to say goodbye on Good Friday before he could say ‘hello’ on Easter Sunday. Why did Jesus leave his best friends on Good Friday? He left them because he loved them and wanted God to be with them. As Jesus hung on the cross, he said ‘Goodbye’: “Into your hands I commit my spirit’. Jesus knew that unless he let go and surrendered to the cross, there would be no way forward. The resurrection joy of Easter Sunday is a direct result of Jesus saying goodbye on Good Friday. My prayer for you this Easter is the words ‘goodbye.’ May you discover this Easter that God is really with you, that you are deeply loved.

The Reverend Ed Hird+
Rector, St. Simon’s North Vancouver
Anglican Coalition in Canada

Previously published in the March 2008 Deep Cove Crier
http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/cr0803.html