death & everything before & after
July 7, 2015
Within the last half hour, I...
- received news of a college friend's death. He is a year younger than me.
- received a text from a childhood friend about attending his wedding. He is a year older than me.
Life and death. Celebration and mourning. Both are a part of this earthly life and journey. I've also been reading on comparisons of different types of religions. What do I take from it all? That for as long as man has existed, man has sought to tackle the question of life, humans, death, life, and after-life, or the lack of one. These are questions that demand an answer, and the answers given will shape the way we live right now. And from what I've read, there seems to be only one line of belief/thought that finds certainty & hope even in the midst of death. I am certain of what I believe, and my beliefs give me certainty. And the certainty gives me hope, peace, and even joy in the midst of mourning. Hope and joy of reuniting. Hope & joy that this isn't all there is. That death is not an ending, and that there is more, gloriously more, to be looked forward to when we pass on from this life to the next, or rather from this earthly stage of life to the next heavenly stage. And that hope shapes how I view the highs and lows of life. When faced with death, the natural sadness is accompanied by the joy and hope that this is but a temporary parting. When faced with weddings and births and celebrations, the natural joy is accompanied by the even greater joy and hope that these are but glimpses of the greater celebrations we will one day experience.
Death and celebrations are not all there is to this life. Life doesn't end at death; we are eternal and immortal beings, as most of the world's major religions agree in one way or another, and we ought to live our lives in light of eternity and it ought to affect our actions with other people. We do not care just for people's physical and earthly well-being. But, if we honestly believed that there is more than just this life, we'd care most of all for people's eternal well-being. May we be certain about our beliefs, and may the certainty in our beliefs shape the way we live, love, and care for others.
A thought-provoking quote I read recently in KP Yohannan's excellent book Revolution in World Missions which is quoted from an atheist:
Within the last half hour, I...
- received news of a college friend's death. He is a year younger than me.
- received a text from a childhood friend about attending his wedding. He is a year older than me.
Life and death. Celebration and mourning. Both are a part of this earthly life and journey. I've also been reading on comparisons of different types of religions. What do I take from it all? That for as long as man has existed, man has sought to tackle the question of life, humans, death, life, and after-life, or the lack of one. These are questions that demand an answer, and the answers given will shape the way we live right now. And from what I've read, there seems to be only one line of belief/thought that finds certainty & hope even in the midst of death. I am certain of what I believe, and my beliefs give me certainty. And the certainty gives me hope, peace, and even joy in the midst of mourning. Hope and joy of reuniting. Hope & joy that this isn't all there is. That death is not an ending, and that there is more, gloriously more, to be looked forward to when we pass on from this life to the next, or rather from this earthly stage of life to the next heavenly stage. And that hope shapes how I view the highs and lows of life. When faced with death, the natural sadness is accompanied by the joy and hope that this is but a temporary parting. When faced with weddings and births and celebrations, the natural joy is accompanied by the even greater joy and hope that these are but glimpses of the greater celebrations we will one day experience.
Death and celebrations are not all there is to this life. Life doesn't end at death; we are eternal and immortal beings, as most of the world's major religions agree in one way or another, and we ought to live our lives in light of eternity and it ought to affect our actions with other people. We do not care just for people's physical and earthly well-being. But, if we honestly believed that there is more than just this life, we'd care most of all for people's eternal well-being. May we be certain about our beliefs, and may the certainty in our beliefs shape the way we live, love, and care for others.
A thought-provoking quote I read recently in KP Yohannan's excellent book Revolution in World Missions which is quoted from an atheist:
"If I firmly believed, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, then religion would mean to me everything. I would cast away earthly enjoyments as dross, earthly cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion would be my first waking thought and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should labor in it's cause alone. I would take thought for the morrow in eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a life of suffering. Earthly consequences would never stay my hand, or seal my lips. Earth it's joys, it's griefs, would occupy no moment of my thought. I would strive to look upon eternity alone, and on the immortal souls around me, soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach it in season and out of season, and my text would be:
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Mark 8:36
On a related note, I was reminded of my very first blog post on this blog:
Almost exactly 6 years later, still an intern (but at a different company), and still very much concerned with death and everything before and after it. haha.
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