Hesed

I’d been told of this Hebrew word before; in English it translates as loving kindness or tender mercy. Less than 48 sparkling hours ago, our priest Emily used it in her homily to describe my mother. My sisters and I and the throngs of oh-so-many friends and angels, living and dead, in-person and on zoom, honored Bernie in community on Wednesday at the cathedral, in our humanness and beyond.

Now I am living in soft liminal space in the wake of Mom’s Eucharist and Memorial Celebration. I think I’ll remember the meaning of hesed for the rest of my life; my desire is to notice and be it more often.