Peace

Betty Lee Hinson was born on September 10, 1932 many miles from the nearest hospital. She was born prematurely and if family lore is to be believed began cooking the same way, stirring a pot as soon as she was old enough to stand on a chair at the stove. There began a lifetime of aromas, good food and nurishment for body and soul alike--Sunday meals were a weekly communion.

She died on a Sunday--the day before her 69th birthday. Standing before his mother's casket her son said to those who came to pay their respects:

Peace be with you.

Most things in this life, especially our time in it, belong to a Higher Power and we enjoy them according to a greater, universal plan not of our own making. But we are entrusted with two gifts. We have the ability to tell right from wrong--our moral compass, and we have free will to choose a path that gives our life meaning and value within the context these universal truths.

I learned these things from my mother by the way that she lived her life. When confronted with life's challenges she chose the path of tolerance, of forgiveness, and of self-sacrifice.

She chose Peace.

While her time in this life is over she lives on in the hearts of those she loved and who loved her. And so I say to those gathered here to celebrate such a life, so well lived,

May my mother's Peace be with you all.

That Tuesday morning in a small church in Dentsville, Betty Lee Hinson embraced the peace she longed for in life.