It is rather ironic that the very presence
of death affirms both life here and now, and raises the question of life
eternal.
This life, its pace and priorities
sure look different when viewed from the graveside hill. Death gives us
laser-sharp vision that cuts through much of the clutter that suffocates life
out of the living. Very, very few things
seem truly important enough for us to pour our heart and energy into it. Perhaps only one. Loving God and loving our neighbor. (Matthew
22:37-39). What flows out of these love-relationships is loving and caring for the
world He created, which sometimes includes little piggies, like George and
Tinkerbell.
Even though death is inevitable,
universal occurrence sooner or later leveling out everything and everyone
living into a heap of dust, it still feels unnatural.
As if we were never meant to experience death.
And yet, we do… and as we do - often prematurely, unjustly, inexplicably
- our hearts gasp for more. So much
incompleteness. So many unanswered questions.
So many unfulfilled longings. So many regrets. There's gotta be more...
Therein lies death’s potential. Will it become an agent of future life and
growth? A compost pile of fruitfulness and new beginning? A seed that, when its
outer shell of this life is cracked, bears fruit towards eternal life?
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24
This is eternal life, that they
may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:3
Or will it draw us into more and
more deaths as we withdraw further and further from the risk of embracing life
with its potential for pain and heartbreak? To paraphrase the words of a
devastated, heartbroken Friedrich Nietzsche,
What are we going to do when
we unchain this earth from its sun? Whither
is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not
plunging continually?
Both with his life and with his death, our
furry messenger from God unequivocally affirmed life. While with us, he brought us joy, he taught
us gratitude, he expanded our capacity for love and gave us daily glimpses of
God’s love and delight in us as His creation. In his quiet death he again pointed
us to his Creator and ours, calling us to trust His love, wisdom and goodness in
life and in death, in joy and in sorrow, looking, waiting for the day when our
joy will be complete in Him, when with His own pierced hand He wipes all our tears away.
He
will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from
all faces. Isaiah 25:8
He will wipe away every tear
from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be
any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. Revelation 21:4
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