on death, dying, and the experience of grace.
death sneaks up on you a lot. ever notice that? whether it be a close friend's death, a family member's death, or even your own death.
if there's one thing this class (Sociology 244; Sociology of Death & Dying) has taught me, it's that there is an OVERWHELMING amount of people afraid to die.
i think i may be the only one in my class that is honestly not afraid to die. i don't cry at funerals. i don't spend nights sweating and crying out in fear and anger (anymore). i can honestly only attribute this to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and the Provider and Comforter, Abba, Reigning God.
so many are deathly afraid of dying (pun intentional). others will try to bully death by overcompensating (i'm sorry, but it seems daft to me to intentionally jump from an airborne vehicle with only a pouch of nylon to support you. and heck, anyone can tell you that i love an adrenaline rush as much as the next guy.), or by embracing it (as i used to- i still love Camus' The Stranger and Dante's Divine Comedy, admittedly).
what so many fail to realize is that death is NOT a state-of-being; rather, it is an event. just a transitional point, THAT IS ALL! it's walking out the door of your house, it's graduationg highschool. it's something that you spend SO MUCH time worrying about, and spend so much anxiety and emotional energy on, and all for naught! it is unavoidable, and it WILL happen to you.
of course...there is the provision that it will decide where you reside for the rest of all eternity.
would you rather spend it alone?
so many people hear "Hell" and think "oh man, that'd be great! fires and all. i could walk around in my shorts, chill with the devil...that'd be awesome!"
no, that's not Hell, that's a cartoon.
Hell is when you are so alone- i mean, imagine being trapped in a room all alone. and it's dark. you can't see, hear, taste, smell, etc. ANYTHING ELSE. NOBODY else. there's no tormentor you can see. you exist utterly alone- so alone that you burn.
have you ever wanted something so badly that you ache? THAT is the burn of the fires of Hell. and if it kills so badly to last like that for a day, week, month, year, lifetime...imagine an ETERNITY like that.
that's why suicide strikes me as..well, funny. because to escape that feeling of utter emptiness and loneliness and singularity, you sacrifice yourself into an even DEEPER level of it, forever and EVER?
i urge you, all of you, to embrace Love- it will save you, it will comfort you.
Heaven is the exact OPPOSITE! you know that feeling you get when you run into a friend you haven't seen since kindergarten? now multiply that by 100. you remember when you were 4, and you could play on the swings and slide and everything all DAY? THAT is Heaven- Heaven is God, and God is LOVE. not some adulterated, measly human word "love"- not some word men will use to seduce women, not some word misguided fools use lightly. no, this is an unconditional embrace (sidenote: just because God loves you no matter WHAT, it does not mean that you will be without consequence. Ab never punishes. a punishment is your parents grounding you. a consequence is jumping off a cliff and therefore falling. there's a distinct difference).
oh, praise be to the Lord God, my Father!
have you said hi to Dad yet today? He's waiting to hear from you.