Skip to content
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Center Staff
  • Board of Trustees
  • Services
    • Sunday Services & Meditation
    • Wednesday’s Wisdom
    • Congregational Songs
    • Archived videos on our Youtube Channel
  • Gallery
  • Media
  • Contact Us
Top Menu

Center for Spiritual Living
Center for Spiritual Living
No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, know that you are welcome here.
  • Programs
    • Animal Kinship Ministry
    • Circle of Love
    • Coming Home – Awakening To Spirit
    • Community Outreach Programs
    • New Thought Bookstore
    • Shifting Sands
    • Youth and Family
  • Science of Mind Classes
    • Course Descriptions
    • Current & Upcoming Classes
  • Events & Calendar
  • Prayer Ministry
    • Affirmative Prayer: Career and Creativity
    • Affirmative Prayer: Health
    • Affirmative Prayer: Love and Relationships
    • Affirmative Prayer: Spirituality and Consciousness
    • Affirmative Prayer: Wealth
  • Ministers
  • Give
  • Volunteer
  • Blog
  • Programs
    • Animal Kinship Ministry
    • Circle of Love
    • Coming Home – Awakening To Spirit
    • Community Outreach Programs
    • New Thought Bookstore
    • Shifting Sands
    • Youth and Family
  • Science of Mind Classes
    • Course Descriptions
    • Current & Upcoming Classes
  • Events & Calendar
  • Prayer Ministry
    • Affirmative Prayer: Career and Creativity
    • Affirmative Prayer: Health
    • Affirmative Prayer: Love and Relationships
    • Affirmative Prayer: Spirituality and Consciousness
    • Affirmative Prayer: Wealth
  • Ministers
  • Give
  • Volunteer
  • Blog

Love Never Goes Away

It’s painful to lose someone we love so much. I wrote this after my Mother passed away. Since then I have watched my cousins lose their mother and a few more close friends. I never know what to say.

But I do know that love never goes away.

This January I visited my friend Mary. I arrived on her snowy doorstep heartbroken and dearly in need of comfort.

It was three days after my mother died.

I hadn’t been to Mary’s house in years. But it was filled with so much “Mary-ness” that I felt immediately at home.

Mary told me the story of the “Lightning House.” It was a story about a couple who moved into this house, recommended by the wife’s father, and after he passed away the most remarkable series of house repairs prompted by lightening strikes occurred. Each time the insurance settlement was the exact amount needed for various emergencies and repairs. The couple was actually so spooked they ended up moving.

Then Mary said … I wonder what signs you will have from your Mom. I laughed. Honestly, I wasn’t ready for any signs and I don’t want anything to do with lightning. I just want to get through the day without crying.

I had arrived 30 minutes after her time of death. Flying out from San Diego I had imagined arriving at the Woodridge Nursing Home to sit by her bedside, to set my hand on her pale freckled arm, to have her oooh and ahhh over her sweaters that I had worn for her.

But it wasn’t like that. Not at all. I arrived at her room in time to sit by her side, but she was no longer there.

That night I got a Facebook message from a dear childhood friend, Lisa (aka Little Lisa) she had had a dream in which she visited my Mom and I. She said she had a fabulous visit with us in her dream.

I laughed, not cried, I laughed. It was just so typical. Mary and Lisa were lifelong friends. In so many ways my Mom shared my friendship with them, just as I shared her Mom-ness with them. They both loved her and they both understood my loss so completely. It made me feel not quite so alone.

Leaving Vermont on the puddle jumper to our connecting flight out of JFK Darin and I didn’t have seats next to each other. I sat next to a woman who shared pictures of her grandson and said she hated to fly. But she was visiting her daughter and nothing would stop her. That sounded like my Mom. She would always say before visiting “I just want to get my hands on you.”

Exhausted I leaned against the closed airplane window shade and fell asleep. I didn’t wake until we were taxiing to our gate at JFK.

I heard a click click click. I looked over to see pale freckled arms knitting away. The woman was wearing my Mom’s shirt. The exact shirt. And she was knitting away.

I shoved my face in my jacket and wept.

But this time I wept because I know now that she’s always with me. This time I wept because I just got a little inkling of how much I was loved.

And love doesn’t go away.

Share this post

Author: Lisa McClure

Recent Blog Posts
  • Annual Holiday Brunch, Sunday December 3rd

    Sunday, December 3rd at 11:30 a.m., after the service Celebrate the holidays with your spiritual family Sunday, December 3rd at our Annual Holiday Brunch. Bring friends and bring your wallet, shop our Annual Holiday Boutique! No need to bring a potluck dish, all of the delicious food and drink will be provided!

    November 29, 2023
  • Annual Holiday Boutique December 3rd

    Our Annual Holiday Boutique unfolds Sunday, December 3rd, at 11:30 (after the service). This year the boutique is open to artists and artisans from Centers throughout Orange County. You will find art, fine art photography, crafts, fiber arts, trinkets, and gifts you won’t see elsewhere! Whether you are looking for creative hand-made gifts to give…

    November 28, 2023
  • Hans Smith Made His Transition

    Hans (Hanyo) Smith October 27, 1947 – November 11, 2023 It is with great sadness we announce that our beloved Hans Smith has made his transition. Hans made his transition at his home in Cleveland, Ohio, where he relocated several years ago to be near his son and grandchildren. Hans was a long-time member of…

    November 12, 2023
  • Dena Van Slyke Celebration of Life January 7th, 2024

    Sunday, January 7th, 2024 ~ 2 p.m. Please join Dena Van Slyke’s beloved life partner Lee in celebrating her remarkable life Sunday, January 7th, 2024 at the Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley, 1201 Puerta del Sol, San Clemente, CA. Dena had been a member of the Center for more than 20 years and served…

    November 9, 2023
  • Town Hall Meeting, October 8, 2023

    Values/Challenges/Strategies Summary We asked you what you valued and what you saw as challenges or obstacles to our values. Many of you also offered up some strategies for meeting concerns you had. Below is a summary of your feedback. Values Challenges/Obstacles Suggested Strategies Ministerial Staff (3) Financial Stability (3) Increase no. seats filled Programs Music…

    October 15, 2023
  • The Visioning Process – Sunday October 15, 2023

    Vision statements and visualization do involve creativity but taps into our left brain, which is analytical and logical. It’s the part of the brain that helps us write our to-do list or plan our budget. Visioning flows is an exercise in tapping into the subconscious brain. It is a spiritual practice that allows us to…

    October 9, 2023
Categories
  • Blog
  • Classes
  • Events
Tags
Affirmation Affirmative Prayer Audio blog center for spiritual living capistrano valley creativity Darin McClure Darin McClure Dr. Heather Clark Dr. Heather Clark Ernest Holmes Forgiveness gratitude gratitude Jason Silva Joyous Living Journal Joyous Living Journal Juli Isola Juli Isola Lisa McClure Lisa McClure Love Love Meditation meditation Music Oneness Parenting Quotes Rev. Dr. Heather Clark Rev. Dr. Heather Clark Rev. Karyn Allen Rev. Pattie Mercado Rev. Pattie Mercado Science of Mind September Warren September Warren spiritual growth Sunday Service Sunday Service Vidette Vanderweide Vidette Vanderweide Wednesday Wisdom Wednesday Wisdom Youtube
Contact Us
Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley
1201 Puerta Del Sol
Suite 100 San Clemente, California 92673

Phone: 949-240-6463

Other contact options

Volunteers: Please check your assignment schedules here.

Latest Tweets
Could not authenticate you.
Latest Facebook Update
This message is only visible to admins.
Problem displaying Facebook posts. Backup cache in use.
Click to show error
Error: Error validating access token: The session has been invalidated because the user changed their password or Facebook has changed the session for security reasons. Type: OAuthException

Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley

Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley

Percolating Your Passion with Purpose, with Dave Friedman, RScP. Sunday August 13, 2023.

... See MoreSee Less


Video

View on Facebook

·
Share



Share on Facebook



Share on Twitter



Share on Linked In



Share by Email

Center for Spiritual Living
© Copyright Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley