A Thought About Death

I hate death.  I hate the pain, I hate the indignity and I hate the not having all the answers for the families that are left behind after their loved ones are gone. I hate the suffering and anxiety that comes and goes even in the best of circumstances; the looks of emptiness, the waves of fear, and the numbness that seems to penetrate every fibre of your being.  I hate that death is a walk into the unknown.  I hate that people die without me having had the chance to tell them what they meant to me; or, even worse, I hate watching people that I have grown to love so much, suffer and waste away to nothing.  I hate watching people's hearts ripped out because they've lost someone that they love; especially when it's someone far too young to die.
Being a pastor doesn't make walking through the process of death any easier, it is still a separation from those we love; it is still painful to watch others be in such great pain.  However, for those who have faith in Jesus Christ, we know that this life is not all there is and that for those who believe in Him, heaven awaits on the other side of this life.  I think that it is more the fear of the unknown that makes us all so uncomfortable. We need to think of death more as a parallel to birth.  A fetus in the womb has no real knowledge of the birth process.  To the baby, at best, it would mean a dark passage to the unknown.  But we know that it is in fact the beginning of a much richer and more meaningful existence, which at least for the first few years is spent in the arms of parents who love and provide for that baby in every way they can.  Is death not the same thing?.... and if that is the case, then there is nothing cruel or mystifying about our having to undergo it.  We fear it now because it is the unknown, but someday when we look back on it, we will see that there was nothing at all to be afraid of.  It will be an even richer and more meaningful existence spent in the arms of our loving Lord and Saviour who will provide for our every need. How awesome is that? That's all I will say about that....for now.

1 Corinthians 13:12: Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. NIV