I know this will sound a bit morbid, but I have been thinking about death of late.
No, I have not had a discouraging trip to the doctor, nor am I steeped in a death-contemplating depression. Quite to the contrary, I have a wonderful family, fulfilling career, sufficient resources to meet my material needs and the fishing has been good this summer.
So…why do I think about earthly demise? Because it is such a natural part of life, and things have been happening around me.
I look at the daily newspaper and the Middle East has erupted (as it tends to do every few years). Crazed fanatics are killing Christians in the Sudan and Nigeria. Hurricanes, tidal waves and earthquakes have been wreaking havoc for the past few years. Planes full of innocent people get shot down. And, of course, several people have died in the past couple years who were dear to me.
Until the past few years, when a friend or family member died, they usually were much older than I am. Oh, there was the occasional accident or disease that took someone “before their time,” but that didn’t happen often to me personally. Today, people my age and younger are dying. That isn’t because death comes sooner these days, but because, well, I’m getting along in years.
One is assumed (or presumed) to get wiser with age. In my case, I can only hope that is true. Who am I to judge?
But I do know that I’m more comfortable today about my eventually passing. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want death to come any sooner than absolutely necessary. But the older I get, soaking up knowledge and experience, the more I realize how much I don’t know and will only know by seeing God face-to-face.
Like many people, I have a bucket list. By societal standards, it isn’t exotic. A few places I want to visit…some people I want to meet…better relationships with the people I love…and, yes a Ford Mustang with a throaty V8 and manual transmission.
But I won’t find the really important bucket stuff in this life. I can just prepare for God to answer my long list of “whys” and fill my bucket with love – provided I get past the pearly gates.
Our culture focuses on getting the most out of this life. But the older I get – and realize the impossibility of “doing it all” – the more I anticipate with joy the peace that will come in the next life. So many questions in this life. So few answers in this life. Such complete satisfaction in the next life.
