"Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up until your friends are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Speak approving, cheering words while their ears can hear them and while their hearts can be thrilled and made happier by them. The kind things you mean to say when they are gone, say them before they go." -Anonymous
Many years ago, as a child, I attended the funeral of a relative. This particular relative was obviously loved, yet those closest to him often spoke ill of him. He was not an openly demonstrative man, but in his own way, he was kind and decent. Behind his back, I heard names to describe him as "bitter, crotchety, and difficult."
As the body of this relative lay in the silk-lined casket, his daughter, who was one of those who had a less than desirable relationship with her father, threw herself over his lifeless corpse, sobbed uncontrollably and openly professed how she loved her father. It was a touching and devastating sight for I could not recall a time I ever heard or saw her direct the contents of her heart toward the one who needed to hear it the most.
To this day, I do not fully understand why people place flowers and tokens of affection around the body of the deceased. The dead can no longer smell, see, nor hear, so why do we waste our heartfelt emotions? The time to tell our friends and loved ones we care, that they are special and appreciated is when they are alive.
Love is a gift. Unopened, it is nothing.
So, too, is the love God has for us, His children, a precious gift. Do not leave it unopened.