Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Last Word


On this crisp fall day, come along with me on a ride through Ridgeview, our local cemetery. I promise it will not be morbid, but interesting and colorful, and quite peaceful, of course. Let's drive down the winding roads and see what we can find. Most of our departed are gaily dressed for fall, some have things with special meaning. We see a baseball cap hanging on one tombstone, perhaps his favorite, worn often. The Cash markers are polished so brightly that you can see the other markers and flowers reflected in them. On another marker, we see a small colorful cameo picture of this lady, perhaps she loved cameos. Another has a flag, plus two flower bouquets, it has five children who tend it lovingly. And now we come to the last two pictures. See the very tiny tombstone? Here reside infant twins, born in 1928 and not living past two days. There must be no one left to visit this marker.  Words on the tombstones are interesting, a peek into another's life. But these are the words for this post, the truly last words:


"We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead, it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word"..."then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?...But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three-sin, guilt, death-are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ! Thank God!
Romans 6
1Cor. 15

We are reading "90 Minutes In Heaven" by Don Piper, and I highly recommend it. It is about a pastor who was actually dead for 90 minutes. I'll be back visiting on Tuesday!

35 comments:

SquirrelQueen said...

With all the beautiful leaves and colorful flowers this was a lovely ride through the cemetery. The marker that caught my eye was the one with the ball cap, I'm sure that must have been the gentleman's favorite. I do so much genealogy research that I find myself reading all the names, cemeteries are a great source of information.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the tour, Ginny. Wishing you both a lovely weekend.

Lynn said...

Ginny, My grandfather passed when I was 8 and as I was the oldest grandchild, I was the one who accompanied my beloved grandmother to the cemetary twice weekly, the most of any of her grands. She and I would read the gravestones as we walked from the water faucet to my grampa's grave. Now my beloved parents are also buried on the same plot. I remember seeing a lot of "angels" on small markers, children who died shortly after birth. I always felt so sad and would hold my grandmother's hand tighter than ever. Thank you for all the visits. So you were an only child too. I think being an "only" actually may have helped me when I lost my hearing at 39, I already knew how to "go inside myself" and be content. Blessings.

MadSnapper said...

a beautiful place it is, and so many stories here. I love that scripture, hope springs from that for sure.
on the Marshall tombstone it lists our children and there are five of them. do you think they are reserved places or that they had five children die? you know me like you know you, always the extra questions. the drive up to it is stunning, all those colorful trees.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

I love old cemetaries. The twin marker is very touching - they had so few medical interventions back then, and likely the girls were born premature.

Alice said...

For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet.
The last enemy is being abolished: death. (from 1Cor15)


Beautiful pictures Ginny.

Remington said...

Great post, my friend!

Ruth Hiebert said...

A lot of history can be seen in a cemetery. This was a colourful ride and very interesting.

Tanna said...

I always enjoy touring cemeteries. There is a peacefulness among the headstones. blessings ~ tanna

RoeH said...

I find cemeteries very spiritual. Relaxation is a walk through a cemetery and reading gravestones and wondering about the lives and stories of all of those people.

DawnTreader said...

I like it when there are names and dates on the stones. Both of my grandparents' graves just have the name of the husband + family grave, as if the women weren't important enough to have their own names mentioned. On my parents' grave we put the family name on top and then each of my parents first name with birth year and year of death.

Ann said...

I find cemeteries to be quite fascinating and beautiful. I've been to one to take pictures and there are a few more I would like to visit. Love all your shots

Betsy Banks Adams said...

I love walking around in cemeteries. I enjoy seeing the tombstones and markers wondering about the people who died. That baseball cap made me smile.

Great group of Fall pictures... I always go to the cemetery in my hometown when I go 'home'... My parents and both of my brothers are buried there. Like my oldest brother, I will be cremated with my ashed strewn over a waterfall. BUT--I want to have a marker in that cemetery for future generations to have for their Family Histories.

Hugs,
Betsy

Reanaclaire said...

I only go to the cemetery once a year to visit my husband's grave.. but this year, I didnt go during the All Souls Day.. will wait for my kids to come home first..

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a peaceful tour.Your photos are lovely, Ginny. The leaves are finally down here and the landscape is really stark. it is a pleasure to see them (trees) wearing fall colors. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

Bobbie said...

Hi Ginny! I grew up with with many dearly departed loved ones as neighbors... a cemetery on the hill above our house, and one smack dab adjoining our yard. Lots of stories!!
Now I find them very peaceful.. Lefty Grove was buried in our local one, and there is always stuff left there ... a bobble head, baseball, baseball cards etc.
Cemeteries are very interesting..

S. Etole said...

What beautiful leaves are still in your area. It is lightly snowing here today ... nothing much for this time of year.

Stephanie V said...

Love how the colors set off those gray stones. All the different shades of gray - such pretty photos. Not a bad place to rest, is it?

Karin said...

Everything is still so beautifully colorful there! Wow - in December! Thanks for sharing this drive with us!

Annie Jeffries said...

Dear Ginny,

Cemeteries are a particular favorite of mine. I'm struck by the beautiful oranges arrangements scattered throughout this place. So uniform is the distribution, I wonder if the cemetery office places these arrangements. I see that the twins even have a lovely bouquet of sunflowers.

I was relieved to read that the five children are tending the Marshall headstone, not lying beneath it.

Hugs,
Annie

Marie said...

What beautiful color. So many questions in my head from this post. The twins being born in 1928immediately made me think of my Grandma. She was born in 1929. Thanks for sharing.

Fred Alton said...

What a post! Death DOES NOT have the last word for those of us who believe in Christ! He is Risen.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ginny, Personally, I like beautiful cemeteries or memorial parks as they are sometimes referred to as. I spent a small fortune to have my own mother buried in a beautiful Southern California cemetery. I also appreciate nice grave stones. Just my own preference. That cemetery in your photographs is beautiful! Have a great coming week!

Shug said...

Hi Ginny....thanks for the tour...The trees are simply outstanding in color...Beautiful!
Hope your Sunday is full of great peace and happiness!

shug

Connie Arnold said...

Beautiful cemetery pictures! It's so comforting to know that this isn't the end. I enjoyed "90 Minutes in Heaven" also.

Rose said...

That is a beautiful place to be buried...I always feel sorry for the mom of young children. I just cannot imagine anything worse than losing a child.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

This is a well maintained cemetery that looks like it has frequent visitors, Ginny. A very beautiful and peasceful place.

Nature Rambles said...

It does look like the resting place that it's meant to be. So peaceful and so very beautiful. Looking at the trees in this season I wish i could visit your part of the world some day!

From the Kitchen said...

Such interesting places--cemeteries are! My mother's family cemetery is in Sandy Level, VA and is filled with relatives whose names have been handed down, generation to generation. I also like visiting the "grand" cemeteries of Chicago. Many well-known folks reside there.

Best,
Bonnie

photowannabe said...

I really love visiting cemeteries. The history is so fascinating.
Your pictures are beautiful, not morbid at all.
Perfect promise scripture too.

Chatty Crone said...

Wasn't that book AWESOME? And I love going to commentaries and seeing what is written on the stones. And the scenery was lovely at your place. Love, sandie

Reena said...

It is truly a beautiful cemetery! The fall tree colors are awesome!

Glenda said...

Pretty colors, Ginny . . . and such words of hope!

Doris Sturm said...

When I was growing up in Germany, we often walked through graveyards on the way home from school and read the tombstones to see if we knew anyone's names and to guess who had the most money because some were elaborate statues of angels and such...it was peaceful and quiet walking through there and of course, we never did that at night, just during the day!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue ι™ˆζ΄ι›ͺ said...

May be that Cash are Chinese. The Chinese do have a surname CASH,

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