Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

When we, then, view death in the light of the Communion of Saints and Holy Communion, there is no helpless bereavement. My loved one has just left me and has gone on a long journey. But I am in touch with her. I know that there is a place where we can meet. It is at the Altar. How it thrills me when I hear the words of the Liturgy, "Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of Heaven," for I know that she is there with that company of Heaven, that Communion of Saints, with the Lord. The nearer I come to my Lord in Holy Communion, the nearer I come to the saints, to my own loved ones. I am a member of the Body of Christ, I am a living cell in that spiritual organism, partaking of the life of the other cells, and sharing in the Body of Christ Himself. There is nothing fanciful or unreal about this. Indeed, it is the most real thing in my life. -- von Schenk, *The Presence* pp. 131,132