Rinnah Gabriel

Six years ago I sat in a hospital bed. In the early morning hours, I delivered a tiny son in an early second trimester miscarriage. He was small and looked so fragile, I was afraid to pick him up. The nurses brought him to us in a little basket. My husband and I looked at him, taking our time. I wanted to remember him . . . we hadn't wanted to bring a camera so there would be no pictures, but I measured him with my hand. He measured about 6 and a quarter inches. He wasn't pretty . . . he had died a week earlier. But we loved and grieved for him. He was given a very special name, Rinnah Gabriel. A few days later he was buried at a local cemetery. Our pastor led a little service at the graveside and read these words:

"There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body."
(2 Corinthians 15:41-44)

We'll go to the cemetery today. We will see our son's grave, brush off leaves and dust and put in new artificial flowers. We'll look around and be saddened by the new graves that have been added in the special area called "The Baby Garden". I will marvel at the new flowers on the graves that date back to the early 70's. It will be sad, it always is, a little. But we will walk away with a mysterious hope.