"Empty Shoes"

One of the things I remember growing up is my grandfather's empty shoes in the cellar.  He had an old cellar that I was captivated by as  nine year old boy.   Opening up the door a damp musty smell permeated my nose immediately and as I descended down the stairs on old rubber coated wooden stairs  they creaked and were "sticky" under my feet and made a "greeeech" noise . Upon getting to the bottom facing directly infront of me was an old cupboard with old fashioned ice chest hinges.  On the very bottom of the  cupboard were a line of shoes that looked to me like they were ancient.  They also smelled funny from being in the cellar.  I marveled not becuse they were old but rather my thoughts were that some day they would be "empty shoes" forever.  I did not relish that thought at all.  Death to me at that time was a foreign experience yet to be had.  My grandfather and I were close and so it gave me the creeps to think of that future time.
   Now scroll forward some 55 years later and I have seen death up close many times as I was in the healthcare field and it was just thrust upon me in inopportune times throughout my career.  
     As fast as death seemed to come sometimes, empty shoes came faster and I began to feel over time that this was a commonplace experience and so I got used to it.  But, I often thought of all those I had come to know over time  and wonder "where they were"  and if their soul was truly at rest. For me this was something of a fascination for me and concern of mine.  Because we bond to those we know throughout this life the holes people leave when they are gone don't really disappear.  And our hearts definitely feel it.  One should never get so used to death that we either don't think about it or we tend to think of it in rosy terms that may not be the case.
     Salvation as I have come to know it first hand is an importsnt consideration that I  have found that many people think of as an "extra" possibly  while even on their deathbed.  It definitely is not.  " For all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God."  Romans, I think.  Therefore there will always be an atonement necessary for "all" of us, get that...a big ALL.  That is inclusive and leaves no one out.  It is a very personl experience to come to know the living God. And it is still a mystery to me that some would never come to know or accept the sacrifice of Jesus.  I know that I have longed to see more of an outpouring of God's Spirit in my time but I also think that Church gets in the way with too many traditions for the Holy Spirit to even enter into.  It takes a contemplative moment and a quiet time for those who gather to allow God's Holy Spirit to even draw close.  Some times Churches are too busy and to programed in our western ways to sense when the Holy Spirit draws near.
    And so I think there will be many empty shoes never to be filled again and I wonder where they all end up.