I
guess probably many of you guys know that my mom has already passed
away on Mar 26, and today is her funeral.
We
have a Christian, and simple, style of funeral at the hospital today,
followed by cremation. We will choose another date for burial at sea.
Thanks
very much for the prayers and support of you guys over the past
months. I appreciate that.
As
some of you may know, my mom passed away when I was in a reporting
trip. Her condition deteriorated rapidly and suddenly that she looked
quite normal two days before I departed for the trip. She was
responsive to my phone calls when I was away, and my sister told me
that she was still OK on the day she was admitted to hospital.
But
things changed quickly one day after, with doctor first saying that
she might leave within days but later telling us “to be prepared”
at any moment. In a few hours, she has gone to heaven.
In
my prayer that night, I asked God why would he let her die without me
saying goodbye to her. I don't think I can get an answer, but just
one thing popping up in my mind – that we, as Christians, will
sooner or later meet again in the heaven, and so there is no such
thing as eternal farewell.
My
mom is baptized on the day she dies. It is actually not that easy to
have her baptized. She is OK to baptism because she says she “already
believes in God”. But whenever we tried to take her to church to
discuss related arrangement, there were always obstacles. She had
stomach pain, or sometimes she was too tired.
On
the hospital night, the brothers and sisters in my HK church were
scrambling to let her be baptized. But the pastor of my church could
not be reached, and the hospital does not have priest because it is a
Catholic institution. At one point, my brother even thought of
getting pastors from nearby churches that we have not been to for my
mom.
But
we could reach my church's pastor at the last minute. She rushed to
the hospital, and baptized her. After baptism, my mom goes to heaven.
God
has his timing and plan.
Cheers.
我媽在3月26日去世。今天我們在醫院舉行葬禮。葬禮簡單,但按基督教儀式進行。安息禮拜完後,舉行火化禮。我們會擇日舉行海葬。
謝謝大家在過去幾個月的代禱和支持。我非常感謝大家。
我媽去世的那一天,我正在外面出差。她的情況突然急轉直下。我出差前兩天,她的情況還不錯,我跟她講電話時,她的對答清楚。她住院后,我姐還說她的情況還行。
可她進醫院一天后,情況很快轉壞。醫生先告訴我家人,醫院會安排我媽做物理治療,以改善她的呼吸,如果物理治療效果不好,她很有可能在幾天內離開。但幾個小時后,醫院突然說,家人隨時要有『心理準備』。再過幾小時,神帶她走了。
雖然說,半年前我媽給確診腦癌和肺癌時,我已經做了心裡預備,她在世的時間不會長,但也沒有想到那麼快。
我當天禱告時,我問神,為什麼不讓我跟媽媽說一聲再見呢。我想,這個問題,我是永遠也想不出答案。但第二天,我跟一個朋友聊天,他說:『我們在將來也會在天家見面,所以根本沒有永別這回事。』
我媽在去年决志信主。她在去世的那一天洗禮。為她洗禮,相當不容易。她早就說既然她已經相信了,所以願意洗禮。但每一次我們想帶她去教會商討一下安排的時候,總會有一些阻礙。有時候,她肚子疼。有些時候,她覺得很累。
在醫院的那一天,教會的弟兄姊妹很想儘快的幫她洗禮。他們透過聊天室問我,要不要現在給她安排洗禮。我當時還不知道醫生已經說過,她有可能在幾天內離開,心裡也就不著急,跟他們說,我過幾天回來後就會安排。
當我媽情況變差到可能在幾小時就離開時,我們都很緊張。可當時,我們教會的牧師聯繫不上。而聖母醫院是一家天主教醫院,所以沒有院牧。我哥甚至想過,看看醫院附近有沒有教會還開著燈,找他們的牧師幫我媽洗禮。
到最後,聯繫上我們教會的牧師。她趕快的來幫她洗禮。洗禮完後幾分鐘,她走了。
神有祂的時間和安排。