Taken off, old and worn out
One of the last poems Lina Sandell wrote was about the death. That was 1899.
What is to die?
To take off an old, worn out costume,
and sleep the child's quiet sleep,
until the morning of life has broken,
and the new day has entered.
What is to die?
To come home to beloved Father's House,
from stormy ride on night-covered path
to bliss and light,
with the Lord God on high.
What is to die?
To enter a harbour calm and safe,
from the noise of the wind on stormy sea,
in to the kindly arms of Jesus,
to which no storm can come!
In the winter of 1899, Lina received a very severe and long-lasting flu. It was more than her already sick lungs were able to cope with. The forces never really came back.
Even worse, she thought it was when her memory and thinking began to wane. Finally, she also found it difficult to speak. She spent the days in her recliner, still and satisfied. She was happy when she had Oscar and her niece Hanna at home.
In the morning of July 27, 1903, it was time for Lina to "take off her old worn out costume". She fell asleep to go to the land she had so often longed for and written about.
On July 31, 1903, Lina was buried at Solna Cemetery. Over a thousand people had come to say goodbye to her. A choir sang several of her songs. Oscar, her husband, spoke at the grave, saying, among other things: "In a fragile crock, she had a soul full of the Holy Spirit, of the light of the Spirit, of the love of the Spirit, and of the grace of the Spirit."
It was, after all, to be filled with the Holy Spirit Lina prayed with the words of the hymn: "Lord with power from the Height clothe me ...", and Oscar could testify that she had owned the power of the Holy Spirit in her life. Only three months after the funeral, Oscar also died.
Lina's hymns live on because they were inspired by God Himself. They are still loved and sung by many in our days too. The hymns have so much to give of joy, consolation, confidence and hope. Sit down and read or sing them, meditate on the content and you will be blessed!
Picture:
Lina likened death to various things. I've included:
The taken off, old and worn out costume on the chair
The boat is a symbol of the individual Christian which "enters a harbor calm and safe, from the noise of the wind on the stormy sea".
The light shining on the boat illustrates the sentence "To come home to beloved Father's house". You can imagine that the light is shining down through the gate, which is opened to receive Lina and she may come "to bliss and light, with the Lord God on high!"
The paradise lily above the chair has a double symbolism: partly the perish-ability of life on Earth, and partly the grace of God. As an oriental symbol, it is also a sign of resurrection and eternal life.
One sometimes resembles the life of a weave with different colors and the rag-carpet with its symbolic colors may be linked to that idea:
The red color - the color of love. I thought of Lina's great love to God, her husband and other loved ones, but I also thought of her great love for the distressed and the work among them.
The white color - the color of purity. Throughout her life, Lina was so careful of living a sanctified and pure life for God.
The black color - stands for grief and death. Lina had many times had to be separated from both family and friends.
The blue color - it denotes the heavenly. Lina had thought about the heaven many times and often longed for it.
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Now Lina has been dead for over a hundred years, but her hymns live on. They are sung, loved and brought joy and comfort to so many even in our day. Search for the hymns found on the website, meditate on them, read them aloud to yourself (or anyone who wants to listen) and sing them if you can tune. God bless you!