We read the paper, watch the news, surf hundreds of websites for the latest info … we are surrounded by death. We have friends or family that have passed away. Daily, we hear of people dying from disease, accidents, natural disasters, etc. Some cannot cope with life and end their turmoil with suicide. And of course, there are countless wars happening in many parts of the world. We are well aware that death is happening all around us. We just would rather not give it too much attention, too much thought. Why is that?
Perhaps we don’t converse about death because we don’t want to think about own imminent death. Each of us knows we will die someday, but we don’t want to be reminded of it or put much thought into it. We find that by avoiding the topic, we can live better lives, if we just focus on the present. Just think positive thoughts so we can live a happy life.
There is wisdom in not being fixated on death. When a loved one dies, we are left with a hole in our lives that special person had occupied. That is deeply sad. But staying centered on that loss, beyond a healthy grieving process, has a way of sucking the life out of us.
There is a way to face death in a healthy and life giving way. And it has everything to do with the Easter season we just celebrated. If death has the last word, if death is final, if death is so extremely powerful to change all things for all time, then it certainly is something to fear, sidestep and avoid talking about. It is overwhelmingly depressing. But if death met its match, if death was beat in the sense that it didn’t have the last word, was not final, our physical death moved us into something better, then one can say we could actually look forward to death. That sounds strange, but if death’s power can be removed, then this could be a reality.
Easter. Jesus died on the cross. Jesus rose from the dead. Death couldn’t hold Him down. He conquered death. With Him, death does not have to be feared. I invite you to explore who He is and what He has said. He gives life.
