On Monday, January 20, 2020 Meg York made an unexpected, sudden move to heaven. No one saw it coming on that day. Two to three weeks earlier it had been a strong possibility as she was found unconscious in her home on different Monday morning. She was in her second life-threatening coma in two years. Could she survive? We didn’t know.  

Like her recovery from two years earlier, she seemed to be making unbelievable progress. I got an email from her on the Friday before explaining her progress and letting me know that I could come and visit. I had planned to see her Tuesday as I had family in town that weekend. It was on a Tuesday morning that I learned that Meg had died unexpectantly Monday night.  

What a shock! Meg York was the kind of woman that made you believe that God could be nice. It was because she was so nice and welcoming to everyone. She was that steady servant who lived to bring a smile to the downtrodden and to serve God through a spirit of welcome. She was an evangelist at heart. She was never afraid to share that God sent Jesus to save us from our sin to any delivery person or stranger who walked in the church.  

After her first coma that lasted for weeks, she told me that she felt no pain during her recovery. Her nurses explained that they had done very painful procedures on her but even when she woke with tubes all over her body, there was no pain. She told me that she remembers being in total peace and joy as if she was lying in a field near a bridge and bubbling brook smelling the gardenia bushes that surrounded her. (I discovered that we shared a favorite flower when she told me that story). She confided that she didn’t care about coming back to us here, but that since she was back with us, she will do her best to serve God with her whole heart. And that is what she did. She faithfully sat at her place in the western section our church and welcomed all the people that walked into our church. She was a wonderful help to her sister and a faithful volunteer for all our ministries. She didn’t think about the time of her retirement, she lived to work for God. In fact, that last email she wrote that she could not wait to get back to work. She had enough of being away from her ministry.  

The light of Christ shone through her love. Jesus said: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35).” Then I would say that no one had any reason to doubt that Meg was Jesus’ disciple. Her love for others was the breath of her life. Her kindness and interest in every human being showed how much she loved God. In fact, she loved God best by loving His image in every human being.  

Meg is irreplaceable. But her love for God is inspirational. I can’t wait to see her again and feel the love of God that poured out through her life and interest in every person she encountered and most especially for the people some never even notice. I want to be more like her and look for the person that no one else seems to notice and make sure that person knows they are special.