Rejoicing in the Midst of Death

Today was hard.  It was painful.  Today was filled with tears and hugs and kind supportive strangers.  Today, we mourned the death of a loved one.

But today is also a day of laughter and of smiles.  It is a day of rejoicing. Today, on Gaudete Sunday, we recall the hope we have in Christ, even as we watch this world pass away before our eyes.

My uncle had become very sick over the course of the last couple of months. It was an unexpected illness that completely turned the lives of family members upside-down.  Death came too soon.  And yet, as Johann Gerhard wrote, "we deceive ourselves sadly if we think of death only as taking place with the last breath of life here. . .life and death seem to be far distant from each other, when in fact they are as near as possible to each other."

We are dead.  We live in a world that is dying and rotting and decaying away.  We cannot possibly live in a dead world; our earthly bodies are death and there is nothing we can do to stop the destruction of ourselves and what we see around us.

What a bleak outcome.  There is no hope in this dying.  I think about those who try to console the grieving and I can't help but wonder how they think they are providing any comfort, for in their minds, what is the other side of death?  What peace or assurance is there if there is no definite hope?  There can be none.

But our hope is sure.  It is not of this dead world; it is hope in Christ, God with us, who came to take on all the sin, the dying, the decaying and withering away.  He took it all to the cross, once and for all, that we may live.  We are baptized into His death and His resurrection, and have become clothed in His righteousness.  My uncle was baptized into His death and His resurrection, and now, he lives.

"We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:9-11 ESV)

Death is only the beginning.  In Christ, we look forward to that glorious day when we will join together with the saints who have gone before us, including my uncle, in the marriage feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom. Gerhard concludes that "the Word of God is an incorruptible seed; death does not destroy that seed, but it is hidden in the hearts of God's people, and in His own good time He will quicken it into new life."

My family may be in the midst of mourning here on earth, but on this the day we rejoice in Christ's coming, we also rejoice that my uncle has been brought through death and into life.

Soli Deo Gloria!

All Johann Gerhard quotes are taken from "The Daily Consideration of Death" in  the Sacred Meditations translation by Rev. C. W. Heisler.

The Dangers of a Bland Diet

There once was a man who ate naught but white food.
'The color' he claimed 'destroys my latitude.
With flavor and spice,
I can't enjoy my rice!'

So, without any thought of the 'morrow,
he omitted the green, red, and yellow.
The man of white food consumed
and never once became attuned.

But then came the day,
when he stumbled and swayed,
and with a great cry of terror,
he came to understand his error.

So take my advice,
enjoy more than just rice,
for else you might find yourself
just as he did himself:
The poor man's fingers and toes
had done near faded away!


This is inspired by a recent conversation and the asparagus (pronounced asp-per-grass) I enjoyed for dinner.  Some in my family detest it.  They don't know what they are missing.

The Sky Is Crying

Nara locked the door behind her and leaned back. She had made it through another day.  The apartment was dark and she remembered she had meant to stop by the store on the way home. There were a few eggs in a carton in the back of the frig; thankfully she hadn't gotten around to making banana bread yesterday. There was still a few slices of sandwich bread left too. Guess she was scrounging for dinner. She really didn't feel like making much of anything anyway.

Flipping on the kitchen light, she grabbed a pan from underneath the counter and shuffled over to the frig. Better get started before she lost the nerve. It was getting late. Dinner, and then she could go to bed.

Things had slowed down at work, the project she had been working on was drawing near to an end. She looked forward to the pause in life, but also dreaded it. It was true, she had been working hard and was exhausted, so yes, she could use a break. But it also meant time for reflection on life. She hated reflecting on what was not, but what she wished was, on what was, but what she wished was different. It would  bring an emptiness that would leave her mourning the sleep that would not come as she lay awake at night.

She turned the knob until it clicked off and took the plate over to the patio door, staring out into the black field as she slide to the floor. There weren't any glimmers of light in the sky tonight. The eyes of sky were hidden.

Nara stared blankly out, finally stirring to check the time. She couldn't bring herself to go to bed yet. Pulling on a light jacket from off a kitchen chair, she let herself out and walked towards the empty field. The eyes of the sky were hidden tonight. They were hidden, but she could feel their sorrow. The eyes of the sky were hidden, and the falling tears became her own.