CFN – Death. It can be a scary word that conjures up frightening images. It’s change. Our lives change when people pass away that we care for.
This week I heard from a friend who’d just come home from the hospital after catching Meningitis; something that is usually fatal in adults.
It was stunning in the moment as I’m used to talking to this person; sharing about life and how crazy women are 🙂
Yet this gentle soul nearly departed our blue marble like a candle being snuffed out.
I have another friend with the Big C – he’ll probably survive for a long time. My beloved dog is now 11; past due for her breed and I can’t imagine her not being with me.
Relationships die to. You can be at the peak of joy and contentment and then poof that person is gone.
We suffer pain. We suffer loss. It’s normal to hurt when we lose something we care about. It’s supposed to be painful if we really loved that person or relationship.
It’s part of change. I think for me as I’ve got older it’s become and becoming more and more important to cherish each day as though it could be the last and to cherish those I care about more.
Do I miss people that have left my life for one reason or another. Of course. I miss most of them terribly and funny who I miss more in my life than others.
Life is not a video game. There is no restart button. How will you cherish yours today?
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There certainly are highs and lows and this getting older stuff has both of them but your words “How will you cherish yours today?” is a good start.
Why is there death? Evolution says….. No help, no hope, or consolation. So eat,drink, and being merry, for tomorrow we die! The Bible declares we died because the death sentence passed down upon us for our participation in Adam’s first sin. Death is not just an end of life and creative processes, it is a judgment leveled upon us as sinners. The Sovereign God of Heaven and earth has allotted each one of us a set time form cradle to grave to avail ourselves to the salvation that is in His Son. The Lord Jesus Christ gives this warning – Mat 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”.
Yes, death will come, but after death comes the Judgment. See the need to prepare for eternity? Will you be ready to face God in your sins? Then and there you will plead your own self righteousness, goodness, and works, etc. but such all will not justify a sinner before a thrice Holy God. Then it shall be to late!
Ecc 11:9 “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment”.
Heb 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”
Evolution “says”? Evolution says nothing except what genes express. Maybe you mean those of us who believe in evolution say eat, drink and be merry? Sorry, that’s what Dairy Queen says.
What I love about evolution is that it carries the most fundamental aspects of peace. We living beings are all related. We are one big family. There is no such thing as race, only phenotypic traits. We ALL even carry the same mitrochrondrial DNA – that of mitochondrial Eve.
Having also provided my DNA to the National Genographic study, I have the pleasure of knowing who I’m related to over evolutionary time. That kind of connectedness to humans who first walked out of Africa is a wonderful feeling. A celebration of life.
I’ve lost quite a few friends and family members over the last several years. It’s the finality of it all that seems to be the hardest part to deal with. Once they’re gone, they’re gone, and there’s a big hole left that can never be filled. That empty feeling does diminish as time goes by, but it never goes away completely. I lost my father under tragic circumstances over forty years ago, and I still think of him daily, and miss him badly. On a more positive note, I take comfort in the fact that there is NO judgement by a sadistic god, and NO eternal burning in a “fiery lake” for non-believers. Just never ending peace.
Thus sayeth Ed – “Just never ending peace”. By what authority do say such things – your opinion won’t do. Say what you want about the Word of God, the Holy Bible, but you can’t change it’s clear statements about death, and eternal judgment to come, and that with a God given authority that trumps all man made opinions.
The Lord Jesus Christ speaks of himself – John 12:48 “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day”.
While i refuse to join in the religious debate, I will however answer the question that was asked.
How will i cherish my life? I cherish every little moment in my life. From my daughter’s laughter, to the touch of my husband’s hand resting on mine, to the beauty of this big rock we call home.
Have you ever just sat there by the water, and admired how beautiful the sun is reflecting off the waves, or closed your eyes and just stood there as the wind blows through your hair? I have, and i cherish every minute of it. Remeber, its the little things in life that matter the most.
So, while you guys argue over what happens when we die and where we go, I will be enjoying every minute of my life, so that when it’s my time to go, ill have a life time of memories to think back on.
You nailed it kare bear. And we in Canada are so fortunate to live in a part of the world where most of us (but not all) have access to decent food, clean water and adequate housing. Without any one of those three things, life would be hell. We are also very fortunate that, so far at least, we are not ruled by religious fanatics. Most of us do indeed have a lot to be thankful for.
To teil ya one thing folks, I’d rather believe and be wrong than
not believe and be wrong, that’s a for sure, aye?
Think about it will ya!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dukers1, i never said I didn’t believe. Actually I never did state my religious views at all. I was simply answering the question that was given.
Luke 16:22-24 “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame”.
This is an account given by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ does not say it was a parable, nor did he say it was a story of allegory, fiction, or even a made up story. The Lord Jesus being God in the flesh, knowing all things, could inform us on what happens after death. In this account, we see the following:
1. Whether rich or poor, one common event – all will die.
2. There is a place of total bless – Heaven, and a place of total torment -hell.
3. All will either end up in heaven or hell.
4. When we die we do not cease to exist, but we all have an immortal soul made in the likeness and image of God – never dying. Death is when our mortal bodies of flesh cease to function, and dies.
5. In heaven or hell one does not cease to think, remember, feel, and desire.
6. Snap shot of what heaven will be like -“into Abraham’s bosom”. Abraham being one of the main patriarchs that God blessed by His grace and saved from his sins. “Bosom” conveys closeness of fellowship.
7. Snap shot of what hell will be like – eternal torment with eternal unfulfilled desires.
8. There is no escape and returning from hell to earth.
The question that remains to be asked – how do I get to heaven, and escape hell? This particular account does not say. We can not say that only poor people get to heaven, nor can we say that all rich people go to hell. Our works will be the bases of our condemnation to hell, but our works will never commend us to heaven.
The answer -Ephesians 2:4 -10 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”.
How shall you escape the damnation of hell?