Linda Johnson, Associate Pastor

I hate to be the one to tell you, but someday you will die. Me too. We know it, but we keep that knowledge buried in the back of our minds because we don’t want to think about it. But denial does not erase the truth, nor does faith ignore truth. Faith embraces truth and supplies it with courage, hope, and God’s grace. That’s what we are trying to do at Belmont by offering a document and a workshop with the title, “Getting It Together: A Gift to Myself and My Loved Ones.”

On Sunday, February 26, at 11:30 a.m., you are invited to attend a workshop that will enable you to take care of some of the essentials of getting your affairs in order, provide information for your loved ones, and make your final wishes known upon your death. Belmont lawyers will be present so you can actually execute a Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney and get them notarized. You will be able to get advice and information for making a will. A document has been prepared for you to complete so that you can begin to “get it together” at the workshop. Your ministers will be available for making funeral plans. You can even pick out your favorite hymns!

Lunch will be provided. We’ll need to know how many documents to have ready, so please make a reservation by calling the church at 383-0832 (ext.49 after hours). You can also email Linda Johnson at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

One of the things we have learned here through our many funerals is that when people have made advance plans and has their affairs in order, the family is relieved of an enormous burden. It is difficult to make decisions in the midst of grief and often shock. When one of our young members learned she had terminal cancer in an advanced stage, she wanted to get her legal affairs settled for the sake of her stepdaughter. One of our lawyers made a house call; and everything was taken care of before pain overtook her, giving her a great sense of peace and satisfaction that she had done everything left to be done for her daughter. Another of our members, an intelligent and gifted leader, did not have that luxury. Her death came quickly and without warning. She had been given one of the documents, “Getting It Together” but had not filled it out because, like most of us, she put it off thinking she had plenty of time.

It is important that younger people and young families take care of these matters as well as those of us who are “older” and beginning to think of such things. So I urge all of you to consider coming to the workshop on February 26. If you can’t attend that day, then please pick up the document and fill it in and get yourself together!! By the way, the last page is a blank sheet for filling in your favorite things. This could be a list of your values and beliefs to pass on. It could be your favorite scriptures, poems or quotes. It could be a summary of your life, a list of your accomplishments, or even your most embarrassing moments. Maybe even your favorite music, books, flowers, vacation spots, or people. This is a page to have fun with.

Please don’t think of this as morbid, but as a valuable opportunity to get something done that you might keep putting off and to do it with the support and presence of your faith community. It will be a gift to yourself and to those you love.