Helen Steiner Rice - In the Loving Fathers Care: Poems of Comfort in Times of Loss

Presented to:By:Date:A HELEN STEINER RICE Product 2012 by Barbour Publishing, Inc. All poems Helen Steiner Rice Foundation Fund, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cincinnati Museum Center. All rights reserved. Published under license from the Helen Steiner Rice Foundation Fund, LLC. Written and compiled by Rebecca Currington and Patricia Mitchell in association with Snapdragon GroupSM, Tulsa, OK Print ISBN 978-1-62029-163-4 eBook Editions:
Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-62029-552-6
Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-62029-551-9 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the H OLY B IBLE , N EW I NTERNATIONAL V ERSION . NIV .

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked ncv are taken from the New Century Version of the Bible, copyright 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked CEV are from the Contemporary English Version, Copyright 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission. Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O.

Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.barbourbooks.com Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses. Printed in China.

God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.
P SALM 49:15 NIV Our human minds have trouble processing the word eternal. In our world, everything has a beginning and an end; nothing goes on forever. The essence of eternity, however, is one of those new things we encounter when we come into fellowship with an eternal God. The finite nature of our lives is overruleda new reality is set in place. This new reality has so many implications.

In fact, embracing the eternal changes everything. It gives us a future beyond the limitations of our physical bodies, and it gives us hope. Grief and loss are tempered by the understanding that death is only a momentary separation. We will be with our loved ones again, restored and more vibrant than ever. Can you take hold of this new realityeternal life? Let it sink in and realign your inner perspective. Then lift your face to God and smile!

Death is just another stepalong lifes changing way,No more than just a gatewayto a new and better day,And parting from our loved onesis much easier to bearWhen we know that they are waitingfor us to join them thereFor it is on the wings of deaththat the living soul takes flightInto the Promised Land of Godwhere there shall be no nightSo death is just a natural thing,like the closing of a doorAs we start up on a journeyto a new and distant shoreAnd none need make this journeyundirected or alone,For God promised us safe passageto this vast and greatunknownSo let your grief be softenedand yield not to despair,You have only placed your loved onein the loving Fathers care.HSRLet us all remember whenour faith is running low,Christ is more than just a figurewrapped in an ethereal glow.For He came and dwelled among usand He knows our every need,And He loves and understands usand forgives each sinful deed.He was crucified and buriedand rose again in glory,And the Saviors resurrectionmakes the wondrous Easter storyAn abiding reassurancethat man dies to live againIn a land thats free from troublewhere theres peace among all men.HSR Eternal life.

What does it really mean? Can we truly grasp the concept of living forever? And not only living, but living without the painful extremities of this present life. The Bible tells us that there will be no more sadness or crying or disappointment or loss. There will be no discord or competition or greed. The joys of this life will be increased, while the sorrows will be gone forever. Pain and suffering will be banished and loneliness and isolation will be replaced by true fellowship. Hard to even imagine, isnt it? But that is what weve been promised.

That is our heritage, our hope. Ask God to help you see beyond the sadness of today to the joy of your future life with God. You may not fully understand the concept of eternal life until you are there, but the very thought of it will brighten your here and now.

We live a short while on earth below,Reluctant to die, for we do not knowJust what dark death is all about,And so we view it with fear and doubt.Not certain of what is around the bend,We look on death as the final endTo all that made us mortal beings,And yet there lies beyond our seeingA beautiful life so full and completeThat we should leave with hurrying feetTo walk with God by sacred streamsAmid beauty and peace beyond our dreams,For all who believe in the risen LordHave been assured of this reward,And death for them is just graduationTo a higher realm of wide elevation.For life on earth is a transient affair,Just a few brief years in which to prepareFor a life that is free from pain and tears,Where time is not counted by hours or years.For death is only the method God choseTo colonize heaven with the souls of thoseWho by their apprenticeship on earthProved worthy to dwell in the land of new birth.So death isnot sad, its time for elation,A joyous transition, the soulsemigrationInto a place where the souls safe and freeTo live with God through eternity.HSRDeath is a gateway our loved ones pass throughOn their way to a land where were all born anew,And while we cant see whats on deaths other side,We know that our Father will richly provideAll that He promised to those who believe,And His kingdom is waiting for us to receive.HSRI called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me.