Grandma Lewis, and Eternal Life

Jesse got a call from his family Saturday afternoon, and received some bad news. His Grandma, Norma Lewis, who lived in Idaho Falls, Idaho, passed away just about an hour before he got the call. She had suffered a stroke shortly before Christmas, but been recovering well. Even at the ripe old age of 90, she was still living independently, despite challenges like poor eyesight, and failing hearing.

Grandma Lewis was a wonderful woman with many talents. We haven't seen her in many years, unfortunately, so I only personally have memories of her from early in my days of meeting Jesse, since we both attended Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) in Rexburg, Idaho. Grandma Lewis celebrated Thanksgiving with Jesse and myself. It was a Thanksgiving I'll never forget, truly. She cooked enough food for about 10 families, despite it being only 5 people (Sarah and Doug came, also). A large turkey, a ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, every vegetable you could imagine, rolls, pies, and all the typical sides like olives, pickles, etc. It was an belly-popping feast, and Grandma Lewis insisted you eat until you couldn't possibly touch another bite. There were so many leftovers that it was apparent we'd be eating Thanksgiving food for at least three days. Jesse and I nearly panicked when Sarah and Doug up and left the very next day, before they could help make a dent in the leftovers. We literally begged roomates and friends who were in the area to come visit and eat!! But it was still left to us to do the majority of the eating. We always get a good laugh at the memory.

Aside from being a fantastic cook, grandma Lewis was an accomplished pianist and organist, and taught piano to many children. She could sew very well, and each of my children have a baby blanket that she painstakingly made, even with her poor eyesight. And she was so frugal: gardening, saving, and re-using long before the green movement ever came into play. All in all, she will be greatly missed.

We're not sure about funeral plans, yet. There's no doubt in my mind that Jesse will be able to go, no matter when the date is finalized, but I'm unsure about the whole family being able to attend. So, we'll see.

I was thinking about this today, and also thinking that I haven't done a spiritual thought for Sunday for a while. I thought I would tie Grandma Lewis' passing into a spiritual thought about death and resurrection. For, even while we are sad at her leaving this mortal life, we have great faith that we'll see her again.

In the Book of Mormon, 2nd Nephi, chapter 9:

6 For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.

• • •

10 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.
11 And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.
12 And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.

• • •

15 And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God.

• • •

19 O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.

• • •

26 For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel.

• • •

39 O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.

Our late Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, said about death:

Since the creation of man, no fact of life has been so certain as death with the close of mortality. When the last of life’s breath is drawn, there is a finality comparable to no other finality. When a father and mother lay the remains of a beloved child in the cold of the grave, there is grief almost inconsolable. When a husband buries the companion of his life, there is a loneliness that is poignant and unrelieved. When a wife closes the casket on the remains of her beloved husband, there are wounds that seem never to heal. When children are bereft of parents who loved and nurtured them, there is an abject destitution comparable to none other. Life is sacred, and death is somber. Life is buoyant and hopeful. Death is solemn and dark. It is awesome in its silence and certainty. Appropriately did Sir Walter Raleigh cry out, “O eloquent, just and mighty death” (in Alfred Noyes, Heath Readings in the Literature of England, 1927, p. 1132).

But death is not final. Though it seems so when its dark shroud overshadows mortal life, to those who accept the Christ and His eternal mission there is light and comfort, there is assurance, there is certainty.

I penned these lines some years ago while seated in the funeral service of a friend:

What is this thing that men call death,
This quiet passing in the night?
’Tis not the end, but genesis
Of better worlds and greater light.

O God, touch Thou my aching heart,
And calm my troubled, haunting fears.
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change

With recompense for victory won;
The gift of Him who loved all men,
The Son of God, the Holy One.

And of course, I love the simplicity of the Gospel found in the teachings and songs of Primary. It seemed appropriate that today the children were learning this song, from the Children's Songbook: I Lived In Heaven (click to listen to the mp3!)

It tells of the Plan of Salvation set forth by our Heavenly Father, beginning with our premortal existence, and ending with the hope we have in a glorious life yet to be, thanks to our Savior conquering death.

As sad as we are for her passing, and that our children haven't had the opportunity to meet Grandma Lewis in person, we are so grateful for the knowledge we have of life after death, and our Heavenly Father's plan for us. We are so grateful for eternal families.

(Photo of Eldred ("Bud") and Norma Lewis. Notes on the back of the photo: "Grandpa was home on leave from San Diego about 1944")