You might never have heard of Carol Blue before -- I hadn't -- but she is the late Christopher Hitchens's wife. In a loving tribute to her husband, Blue recalls the precious months and days before Hitchens passed away.

Her article got me thinking. I'm at an age when family members are getting old; some have died, and others are close to dying.

As I was sitting with my beloved Auntie yesterday, I was thinking of a time when I would no longer have the privilege of helping to care for her, of participating in her life -- realizing that when she's gone, I will have lost another person whom I love and who loves me. It pulled my heartstrings in a decidedly painful way.

At the same time, I had to acknowledge that all of us live life toward dying. Scripture promises there is a time for living and for dying.

Truthfully, I don't wish that Auntie would last forever this side of eternity because I know she isn't whole yet. Part of the wholeness I'm speaking about isn't just physical or mental, but also spiritual -- being perfectly in tune with God. That type of restoration, physical, mental, and spiritual, can only be realized in life after death, having hope in Christ's redemptive work.

My Auntie and I experience this yearning for wholeness.

All of us, regardless of our "religious" belief, know this yearning, but the veil of original sin and our own dark depravity continually gets in the way. The truth is written on our hearts, whether we acknowledge it or not: We're homesick for God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. We deeply long to live fully in a restored relationship with the holy Trinity. We also long to be fully restored physically, mentally, and spiritually, to be restored to those we love, and to live in a fully restored heaven and earth.

As for Carol Blue's hopes and dreams for this present life, I can't say. But I pray that if she doesn't already share in the hope I have for living in wholeness for an eternity with the Triune God, one day she will.

I know God has a divine plan for all of us, and all it takes is to reach out to our loving Savior.