RIP Patti Greenwell - 03 July 2021 - Plague Journal Day 478

Micah 6:8
Psalm 100
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

It's taken me a while to be able to write this post. My good friend, Patti Greenwell, went to be with her Lord a few days ago. She had come into our lives about 37 years ago when she became the music director at GPUMC, and has been a big part of them right on up to now.

She's done pretty well since her husband, the fabulous Charles Greenwell, passed on last year, but it was pretty clear that she was sorely missing him, and was ready to join him whenever God was ready to have her. That makes it a real mixture of emotions - we're sad for ourselves, as we won't have her over for dinner or directing the choir anymore, but we're happy for her and for Charles as they're reunited in that mansion not made by hands.

Someone commented about the picture that was posted on our church Facebook page with the notice of her passing, that she could see the love in Patti's eyes, even in a posed photograph. That's what she was like - she truly did love us, and wanted the best for us and from us, all the time.

That comment got Art Garfunkel's "Bright Eyes" stuck in my head. It's probably an unusual earworm, really, but the chorus just keeps going around and around in my mind.

Bright eyes
Burning like fire
Bright eyes
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes

And a different song, "Going Home" by Sara Groves, keeps adding itself to my internal medley. There are similarities in parts of the melodies, and the topics are similar, but Sara seems to hit it on the head (as she often does - she's quite a songwriter) - with the longing we have to be home with the Lord, especially when someone we love has gone on before.

The good news is that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. This is proof of God's love for us, and the promise that what looks like an ending is really only a beginning.

I'll see you one of these days, Patti. Love you.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.