Death and grace


One day you'll get a phone call from someone telling you that your loved one has died.  

Or maybe you'll actually be there when it happens.

One day someone else will get a call telling them you've died.

Or maybe they'll be with you when it happens.

It's coming.

And the world will go on.  

You'll be a blip on the radar for a moment and then, except for those close to you, you'll be no more than a footnote or anecdote in someone's random story from years gone by - if you're lucky.

So live your life.  

Yes, you have to work and find ways to make money and get by, but there's more to life than that.  

Go enjoy it.  Enjoy your work.  Enjoy food.  Enjoy the people you watch TV with.  Enjoy all the things.

Be in the moments that you have now.  

Why say that?  Because there's a temptation to keep living in the next thing and in things that are days or years out from us.

There's a temptation to worry about what's next.  And usually worrying doesn't help with what is next, planning and doing helps - but worry just makes you miserable.

______________

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.  1 Corinthians 15:21-22

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised perishable and we will be changed.  1 Corinthians 15:51-52

Death is not the end.

We know that after this life, there is something else.

Many people live their lives banking on that and little else - they are looking forward to heaven.

I think that's wonderful.  I get it.  

For some, this existence is hard and if given the option, they'd like to move on to what they have heard is "heaven".  

And they will.

_______________

I've watched it happen many times over the years with people when I was working in a church setting.  It was and still is interesting to see the different responses that we have to death.

We distance ourselves from illness, frailty, and death to the degree that it is sometimes really awkward when it happens.  We struggle with the words and feelings and don't know what to do with ourselves.

We wish we had more time.  We wish we would have said or done some things differently.  We remember.  We regret.  We can struggle to say how and what we feel.  

We're usually raw - an emotional bruise and a nakedness in front of the world.  It's almost unimaginable. It's tenfold the nightmare of being naked at school on test day and having forgotten to study too.

We realize, even if only for a brief moment, that we are also mortal.  We see the lifeless body of our loved one having wasted away or having had a sudden trauma and we know that we're headed there too.

_______________

It's okay to be someone who is concerned about the people you'll be leaving behind.

It's normal to be afraid of the unknown, even if you know it is probably going to be better.

Consider unplugging from the messages culture sends us about life, youth, age, and death and just watch nature and the circle of life.

It's one of the reasons the Bible gives for Jesus coming here, living like one of us, dying, and then being raised to walk in life again.  

He came to set us free from the fear of death and the slavery that fear is.

You can read about that in Hebrews 2:11-16.

There is more to life than struggle if we can relax for a moment and just breathe.

Jesus showed up and said "Don't be afraid" or "Fear not" a whole lot of times because he knows so many are afraid.

If that's strange to you, lean into that message for a while.

See what happens.

Peace and goodwill.

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