Passing Through

Still, here I lie with shallow breath

Soon to leave this life behind

The fading years I do not grieve

For I know they never once were mine

No tension fills this earthly frame

This heart is not gripped by fear

For I know to Whom my life belongs

I feel that Savior drawing near

The grave holds not the victory

Death could never sting

The last enemy is defeated

Rendered powerless by the King

Death is but a passing through

With tears and pain left at the door

As I feel His scarred Hand guiding me

Onward to that blessed shore

Wrapped in His righteousness, at last

My eyes open to wondrous dawn

All the weary night has passed

His glory shines on and on

As my voice joins with that Heavenly throng

To praise Him evermore

My soul is filled with awe, with peace

With joy in boundless store

For in fullness now I know Him

And love Him as I ought

And receive the crown of victory

His precious blood has bought

I see now my faithful walk below

Was but a passing through

Now He has brought me over Jordan

Into that land of Promise true

In that mansion my Savior has prepared

Forever I shall remain

I take my place in that shining city

Lifting ceaseless praise unto His Name.

In loving memory of my Grandpa Tim Kooima (October 26, 1932-March 5, 2024).

Exactly one year ago, I wrote this poem as I waited for that call. The call from family that were seated around my grandpa's bedside, supporting him during his final hours on this earth. Many family members texted me while they waited in that hospital; their beautiful words were woven into this poem along with my thoughts of what my grandpa might be experiencing during his last hours of his life, as well as during that final passage into eternal glory. Here are some of the texts from that afternoon that inspired lines of this poem:

"His breathing is much shallower; heart rate is up. But he is not at all restless."

"He knows where he is headed and that the last enemy is defeated."

"His mansion in glory is getting the final touches now and we are all longing for him to receive His place there."

"Grandpa is with Jesus. He passed peacefully in his sleep. We were all together in Heaven's waiting room."

"An old rugged cross exchanged for a crown. Thankful for all the memories we've had with him and that he was able to cross his finish line in peace."

"He was a blessing to everyone who knew him especially those that got to call him Grandpa."

What has always struck me about my grandpa's final hours and his passing is how peaceful it was for him. How his sleeping form held no trace of tension or fear. How death can be something that inspires so much fear for us still living here below, when really it is a powerless thing. After living a long life as a faithful child of God, knowing to Whom his life belonged, my grandpa did not face death as a terrifying enemy that would defeat him. The grave would not have victory over him, for the Savior to Whom his life belonged had already gone before him with victory over that grave. Death then becomes just a passing through... a passage through which the Savior walks with us, holding fast to us with His scarred hand. That afternoon I also thought about how really, all of life here on this earth is just a passing through, a continual death. A journey filled with tears, pain, sickness, and trial. These words from Psalter 203 ran through my mind that afternoon, and it was chosen as one of the numbers we sang at Grandpa's funeral too. "To live apart from God is death, 'tis good his face to seek; my refuge is the living God, His praise I long to speak." (Psalter 203 - Psalm 73). 'Life' here below is death. Life, true life, is living in God's presence, in His eternal throne room. Death in its final form then is just a doorway through which we walk, where the tears, pain, sickness, trial, and even death itself are all left before the threshold. Banned from the realm of eternal glory by our loving Heavenly Father, where instead life and peace and joy and love abound. Where His children are wrapped in the white robes of Christ's righteousness; where the light of God warms the soul, and the full, blessed knowledge of Him fills the heart completely.

Lord's Day 1

Question 1: What is thy only comfort in life and death?

"That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who, with His precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him."