Rosita, Colorado

At rest.

"At rest in Jesus' faithful arms.

At rest as in a peaceful bed.

Secure from all the dreadful storms

Which round this sinful world are spread."

Three adjectives stick out for me on Lucinda's tombstone; faithful, peaceful and dreadful.  

The second half of this poem suggests that Lucinda didn't have an easy life. She was intimate with the dreadful storms that find their beginning in sin. It was finally the storm of death itself that took her life at the age of 21.  

Yet, supposing that her husband ordered the tombstone, while she experienced the storms of life, Lucinda also experienced rest. He could write that in her death she was at rest, peaceful rest. He might have recalled her last days of laying in their bed and the peace that often comes before a person's last breath.

However, this peace is based not on Lucinda, but on Jesus. Her rest is not some metaphor that might bring comfort. Her rest is a literal rest in the arms of Jesus. Even though Lucinda had experienced the pain of death caused by sin, she was at rest in the faithful arms of Jesus who had rested in his grave and risen triumphantly over death.

"He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." Isaiah 40:11 English Standard Version

The golden evening brightens in the west;

Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.

Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Join the conversation at Praying With the Eyes on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/groups/173881749421231/

(Click on picture to enlarge.)

Text and Photographs ©Copyright 2013 Douglas P. Brauner.  ARR.