Reflections on Death

When I was young, I didn't think much about death, except when my grandma died when I was 8 and my grandpa died when I was 14. I wasn't there to experience when my Dad died when I was 13, so it was sort of unreal for me. We didn't know until about two weeks after his funeral that he had died. He and my mom were divorced and we were in Texas and he lived in Tennessee but was visiting my half-brother, Kenneth, in West Virginia when he died. Kenneth said he didn't know how to reach us, so it was only when a letter returned with a stamp on it by the post office saying he was deceased that we knew. We had not been with him very much since I was four years old and he went to live at the Mountain Home V.A. Hospital and barracks. We only saw him when he was on furlough or leave, so even that didn't have a hard impact on me.

Now that I'm getting older (I'm 66) and my body parts don't function as well as they once did. As they say, after 50 half of what I've got doesn't work and the other half hurts. ;-) I told my hubby and some friends at church that I think the good Lord planned it that way so that by the time he gets ready to call us home, we will be so sick and tired of hurting and being sick and tired that we will be ready to go home when He calls and we won't cling to life quite as strongly as we did when we were young. I know I will hate to leave my family and friends, but I also know they will be coming along as God wills and I will be reunited with the rest of my family who are already there. Since missing them wouldn't be very heavenly, I don't think the good Lord will allow us to miss them. Either He'll keep us so busy taking in the sights and meeting and greeting family we haven't yet met or keep us so busy with choir practice or something that we won't have time to miss the people we've left behind.

That's why I don't believe that when we go to Heaven we won't see what goes on down on Earth. It would just be too painful and wouldn't be Heavenly at all to see our loved ones hurt, suffer and die, whether from natural causes or in accidents. I believe the Bible when we're told there will be no more sorrow, no pain and no tears in Heaven, so we can't see our loved ones hurting.

I hope when my time comes I will gladly go, but I have mixed emotions about how I'd rather go if I had my 'druthers'. I'm not sure if I'd like to go peacefully in my sleep unexpectedly, or if I'd rather have at least a few days, weeks or months of knowing so I can tell everyone Good-bye before I go.

Afraid of dying, no, I'm no longer afraid of it. Like the old song says, 'Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die. Lord I wanta go to Heaven, but I don't wanta die'. There's a lot of truth in that, I'm in no hurry, my body doesn't hurt that bad yet, but it doesn't frighten me as much because I know at least a little bit of what it will be like. I think sometimes, when someone is really ready in their heart, we do them a diservice by begging the Lord to let them live because we are hurting at losing them, especially when they are in a great deal of pain and suffering or their mind has already deserted them, but medical science is causing their bodies to survive. I sort of believe when we pray really hard and God hears it from so many of us, He has mercy on us and lets them survive a little bit longer so we can get ready to let go, but sometimes I think it is time we need to let go and pray for a peaceful passing for them and consolation for ourselves.

We shouldn't be so afraid of death for our loved ones either. Just think of the rewards awaiting them if they know the Lord. If they don't know the Lord, that should be the main focus of our prayers; that someone will be able to reach them and bring them to the Lord before they die. That's the time to be afraid of death because if they don't know the Lord, they are heading for eternal damnation and suffering. That's the only time to fear death; when someone is dying who hasn't yet accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

These are my personal opinions and I didn't get them from any preacher or seminary. They are based on my personal observations over the years I have lived. You may certainly disagree with it and that's okay. I won't hold a grudge and I only pray you won't.