I've tried to write about this before, but I've never been able to do it justice. John's widow asked me to speak at the memorial service today, so here's my best shot at explaining walking on holy ground.

For me it feels right to have this service on Friday. For the pas few weeks I've been heading up to the Rosedale hospice on Fridays to visit John. It was the highlight of my week to see John, to spend time with him was to walk on holy ground.

We'd talk about work, church, the squirrels that jumped from tree to tree out side John's window, the problems involved with plotting points on a globe, the books he was reading, how Bible study was going, the latest movie I'd seen. Just about anything.

We'd talk about how he was doing, What always came through was the sense of peace that God had given John. This was not an easy path by any means, he shared how his mind would race about a problem, and then God would show him that it wasn't a concern and he'd just relax. My prayers in the last few weeks have been “Lord give me the peace of mind you've given John, I want to be more like John”.

John had a peace and a joy that passes our understanding, that passes the things we don't understand. Who can make sense of the tragedy of losing John? I know I can't, all I know is it hurts. All I can do is pray that I would be open to God's love the way John was.

I can tell you that John lives with God in heaven today, because I was a witness to the Lord living with John. I'm deeply thankful to John for allowing me to walk on Holy ground with him.

- Peace