I received the news about a week ago that an old friend has cancer again and I am heartbroken. This person knew me when I was still a young man. She defended me when others were telling falsehoods about me. Though the years and miles have separated us, she still calls me friend. A matriarch and person full of Contagious Joy, she has always been a delight to be around.
Closer to home, a dear friend battles many ailments. Some treatments have run their course and a new action plan is necessary. Given a long life and hoping for more, strength failing but holding onto an Eternal Hope, he rolls with the punches and smiles. My heart grows heavy as I realize that many of my friends and loved ones are nearing the end of their journey. I hear it in their voice, as they speak of times gone by, the sadness that creeps in knowing that the last mile draws ever closer. Their bodies react to medicines that seem to do more harm than good. Life slowly becomes a battle to fight unseen, inward enemies. They vow to fight on, to beat the cancer, or pneumonia, or some other troubling nuisance. Death knocks at the doorway, awaiting his time to carry them away.
We all face the realization that something is out there past the edges just waiting for us to succumb. A life beyond, where our souls will never die. From our first cries, fresh from the womb, to our dying breath, we are well aware that this life is not all that there is. We do our best not to think about it, but it still lingers. The news of the day makes it painfully obvious that we are not going to make it out of here alive. An older relative passes and though we miss them, we determine that it must have been their time to go. A young child or teenager dies and we can`t believe it. As our grandparents and then our parents pass away, we are smacked with the reality that there is a finality to it all.
My first remembrances of death were of a grandfather that I barely knew and an infant that died, several days old, at a church that I grew up in. Although I did not understand what it all meant, I knew that their bodies were no longer full of life. Just as I would happen upon a butterfly or some other insect that had died of “old age”, these people were gone and the shell remained. As I entered adulthood, the certainty of death hit me with a surprise left as a close high school friend lay dead after a party at his university; the effects of having consumed too much alcohol and no one sober enough to realize that he was in trouble. While my friends and I tried to grieve and understand the meaning behind his ending, the process called into question our behaviors, faith and beliefs about life, death and the dash in between. We all are caught off guard and awakened to the terrible reality of death in different ways, but as it creeps closer to our doorstep, we know that it is out there and circles ever closer.
We are given life at conception and every life matters, because God, Our Creator, has given us this breath. As we grow, we become aware that there are many things that are not right about this world: Evil, Injustice, Famine, Plagues, Drought, Suffering, Epidemic, Pandemic, Natural Disasters, Wars, Rumors of and Hints of War. Death, in its many different forms, and our own mortality constantly remind us that we have an expiration date. And so we wake up with the cry that has been uttered since the Fall of Man, a deep sense of longing for the afterlife, where everything will be better, perfect and peaceful. Every religion, faith and practice has a belief in the beyond. A craving for a World Arrighted, where none of the horrors of this world can exist. Not one person alive on this planet is doubtful of a better place to come. From Atheist and Agnostic to Catholic and Bedeviled Baptist, not a one of us is without a hope for something better than this world, this life. Even those who believe in nothing after this life ends, believe that "empty nothingness" to be far better.
For those of us who have placed our Faith in the Resurrected Christ, we are given the assurance of Eternal Life. We believe that Jesus the Messiah came to die on a cross of wood for our own sins, that there is nothing that we could do on our own to be good enough to earn our way into Heaven. We believe that He alone paid the cost to purchase us back from Death, Hell and the Grave. We believe, according to His Resurrection Promise, that He is preparing a place for us right now to dwell with Him forever when our life ends. We believe in the promise of Scripture that there is a land where we will never grow old, shed a tear or watch any more loved ones die. We will not have to watch as someone deteriorates and their body gives way to pain, loss of dignity, nor will we be there as death overcomes them, for there will be no more death. All will be right in that land, there will be no more night for the Son of God will be the Light of that City. As we enjoy the Presence of the Author and Demonstrator of Love, this present age will be no more and will no longer be a thought in our minds. Even so come quickly…
Closer to home, a dear friend battles many ailments. Some treatments have run their course and a new action plan is necessary. Given a long life and hoping for more, strength failing but holding onto an Eternal Hope, he rolls with the punches and smiles. My heart grows heavy as I realize that many of my friends and loved ones are nearing the end of their journey. I hear it in their voice, as they speak of times gone by, the sadness that creeps in knowing that the last mile draws ever closer. Their bodies react to medicines that seem to do more harm than good. Life slowly becomes a battle to fight unseen, inward enemies. They vow to fight on, to beat the cancer, or pneumonia, or some other troubling nuisance. Death knocks at the doorway, awaiting his time to carry them away.
We all face the realization that something is out there past the edges just waiting for us to succumb. A life beyond, where our souls will never die. From our first cries, fresh from the womb, to our dying breath, we are well aware that this life is not all that there is. We do our best not to think about it, but it still lingers. The news of the day makes it painfully obvious that we are not going to make it out of here alive. An older relative passes and though we miss them, we determine that it must have been their time to go. A young child or teenager dies and we can`t believe it. As our grandparents and then our parents pass away, we are smacked with the reality that there is a finality to it all.
My first remembrances of death were of a grandfather that I barely knew and an infant that died, several days old, at a church that I grew up in. Although I did not understand what it all meant, I knew that their bodies were no longer full of life. Just as I would happen upon a butterfly or some other insect that had died of “old age”, these people were gone and the shell remained. As I entered adulthood, the certainty of death hit me with a surprise left as a close high school friend lay dead after a party at his university; the effects of having consumed too much alcohol and no one sober enough to realize that he was in trouble. While my friends and I tried to grieve and understand the meaning behind his ending, the process called into question our behaviors, faith and beliefs about life, death and the dash in between. We all are caught off guard and awakened to the terrible reality of death in different ways, but as it creeps closer to our doorstep, we know that it is out there and circles ever closer.
We are given life at conception and every life matters, because God, Our Creator, has given us this breath. As we grow, we become aware that there are many things that are not right about this world: Evil, Injustice, Famine, Plagues, Drought, Suffering, Epidemic, Pandemic, Natural Disasters, Wars, Rumors of and Hints of War. Death, in its many different forms, and our own mortality constantly remind us that we have an expiration date. And so we wake up with the cry that has been uttered since the Fall of Man, a deep sense of longing for the afterlife, where everything will be better, perfect and peaceful. Every religion, faith and practice has a belief in the beyond. A craving for a World Arrighted, where none of the horrors of this world can exist. Not one person alive on this planet is doubtful of a better place to come. From Atheist and Agnostic to Catholic and Bedeviled Baptist, not a one of us is without a hope for something better than this world, this life. Even those who believe in nothing after this life ends, believe that "empty nothingness" to be far better.
For those of us who have placed our Faith in the Resurrected Christ, we are given the assurance of Eternal Life. We believe that Jesus the Messiah came to die on a cross of wood for our own sins, that there is nothing that we could do on our own to be good enough to earn our way into Heaven. We believe that He alone paid the cost to purchase us back from Death, Hell and the Grave. We believe, according to His Resurrection Promise, that He is preparing a place for us right now to dwell with Him forever when our life ends. We believe in the promise of Scripture that there is a land where we will never grow old, shed a tear or watch any more loved ones die. We will not have to watch as someone deteriorates and their body gives way to pain, loss of dignity, nor will we be there as death overcomes them, for there will be no more death. All will be right in that land, there will be no more night for the Son of God will be the Light of that City. As we enjoy the Presence of the Author and Demonstrator of Love, this present age will be no more and will no longer be a thought in our minds. Even so come quickly…
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