Thinking About Death

We are entering into the season of Halloween when death is somewhat romanticized, fictionalized, or relegated to the realm of the unknown. People dress in costumes depicting ghosts, vampires, zombies, and a host of other creatures associated with death, yet give little attention to the reality. Frankly, people sometimes wonder about people that talk a lot about death.

However, when someone we knew and loved dies, we are forced to consider death from a different perspective. Death takes on a stark reality and is seen as a genuine part of the human experience. It is in these moments, even if only in the brief minutes of a funeral service, that death is addressed and questions are raised about the meaning and brevity of life. It is a time when we experience the pain and sorrow death causes as the reality of separation settles into our world. Then we learn that death is not just a seasonal thought, it is an invasive reality. President Andrew Jackson was right when he wrote: "When death comes, he respects neither age nor merit. He sweeps from this earthly existence the sick and the strong, the rich and the poor, and should teach us to prepare for death."

In the last several weeks there have been five funerals in our church. The ages of those who have passed from this life have ranged from seven months to ninety-two years. There were both males and females who died. Deaths occurred after a prolonged illness and in one instance after a tragic accident. In this context it seems rather bizarre not to think about life and death even if I might prefer other topics to occupy my thinking.

One of the major themes that has crossed my mind is that life should not be measured in years alone. Among other things, life should be measured by impact. There are many who have lived long lives yet made little impact. Others, who only lived a brief time, none-the-less made a significant impact. Sadly, the impact a life has upon individuals is often not expressed until after someone has died. Then the imprint of their life surfaces as people take time to process the way the person has touched their own life. Wouldn’t it be nice to engage in that process before a person dies and then encourage them by articulating how loved and important they are to us? One woman perhaps captured those sentiments when she said, “I told my husband to send me the flowers now and not wait for my funeral!”

Another thought that crossed my mind is, “Stop living life thinking it will go on forever in this world.” How often have I said that “sometime” I will do something I have always wanted to do? Death reminds us that sooner than we expect that time is gone and the “sometime” will never come. Several years ago there was a movie called The Bucket List about two terminally ill men who leave a cancer ward for a road trip with a wish list of things they want to do before they die – or in their terms “kick the bucket.” One man was a flamboyant millionaire and the other a quiet mechanic, but both faced the end of life realizing that they had unrealized dreams. The story focuses upon them trying to squeeze what they wanted to do in life into the remaining time they had. Wouldn’t a better plan be to live each day with reckless abandon to the glory of God, doing His will, and living by faith? Perhaps our “bucket list” would then be pretty short!

Tomorrow I will officiate at another funeral for a friend. He probably had a pretty short “bucket list” when the Lord called him home. It was not just because he lived a long life. It was because he lived a life of impact. He lived each day with the excitement that “This is the day that the Lord has made we will be glad and rejoice in it” (Psalm 118:24). He desired to make his Savior known and found his greatest joy in telling someone the good news of the Gospel because he knew that he was Christ’s ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20). He wrote to me that he wanted to live life “going the last mile” – and that he did. He held nothing back. He lived a life fully invested in the Savior he loved, because he knew he served the Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved him so much that He died for him (1 John 4:19).

Perhaps this is a good time to think about death. It may not be a pleasant exercise, but certainly a wise and necessary one. You prepare for death while you are alive, not after you have died. Life on earth is briefer that we think and eternity is longer than we can imagine.