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By David A. Sargent
The distance was almost 2,800 miles and the trip, due to the pandemic, was three-years in the making, but the two sisters were finally able to reunite.
Barbara Carolan (age 94) had not been able to see her little sister, Shirley (age 90), since 2020. Considering their advanced ages, Barbara really wanted to see her sister again. Barbara’s granddaughter, Stephanie Atkinson Shively, enabled the reunion. She took her grandmother from her home in Seabrook, New Hampshire to the home of her great aunt in Laughlin, Nevada – a distance of 2,766 miles.
Shively captured a conversation that the two elderly sisters shared in a video that she posted on social media. The video has gone viral.
“If we don't see each other on this Earth, we'll see you in heaven,” the younger sister said in the video shared by Shively.
“You betcha, you betcha,” the 94-year-old sister replied. *
Their conversation reflects the meaning of a song written by Albert R. Brumley in 1945 entitled, “If We Never Meet Again This Side of Heaven”:
“Soon we'll come to the end of life's journey,
and perhaps we'll never meet anymore,
till we gather in heaven's bright city,
far away on that beautiful shore.”
The sisters’ conversation and the words of the song reflect the hope of those who are in Christ.
Without Christ, each of us is lost – separated from God due to our sin (Isaiah 59:1-2). But God loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16). Through Jesus and His atoning sacrifice, we can be saved from our sins, reconciled to God, and recipients of the gift of eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). In order to receive these glorious spiritual blessings, we must accept His offer of salvation and eternal life through our trusting obedience.
God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).
Those who accept His offer can rejoice in the expectant hope of a great reunion when Jesus returns. Read and relish the words of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Christians can sing with assurance the chorus of Brumley’s song:
“If we never meet again this side of heaven,
as we struggle through this world and its strife,
there's another meeting place somewhere in heaven,
by the side of the river of life,
where the charming roses bloom forever,
and where separations come no more,
if we never meet again this side of heaven,
I will meet you on that beautiful shore.”
In Jesus we have this living hope (1 Peter 1:3-4).
You can share in this hope if you will trust and obey Jesus. If you do and if we never meet this side of heaven, I’ll see you on that beautiful, eternal shore.
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