Slightly Morbid Thoughts... c):-p

Okay...don't know why I'm writing this, but for some reason I thought of it, and I have nothing better to write at the moment. Maybe it was the inspiration of all those turkeys that are killed for this one day of the year, but more than likely it was my own strange and crazy thoughts that brought up this subject.

You're probably wondering, "What the heck is this girl going on about?" Well, it's a subject that many people think about subconsciously, if not consciously everyday. It's the subject of Death and the hereafter. Slightly morbid, ain't it?

I remember a girl who used to go to my old church, and she was always so scared of death and anything that had to do with it. Also, I've known quite a few people in my life that think it's just wrong to talk about death, as if it's such a terrible subject and you should refrain from it lest you be struck down from heaven itself.

Maybe I'm just a strange person, but I have no real fear of death itself. Yes, I fear the *way* I might someday die (which I'm hoping is painless and in my sleep of old age), but I have never really feared the death part in dying.

This probably comes from having a loving mother and father who have seen to it that I be brought up in the Christian faith, and most specifically (ever since around 1st grade) the Lutheran faith.

Life is such a trivial thing if you really think about...we are all such tiny little specks on the huge surface of this earth, and sometimes we wonder why, exactly, are we here? I actually found myself contemplating this very subject not too long ago in church (when I should have been singing one of the hymns, I'm shameful to admit), "Why is our trivial existence so important and meaningful?" It didn't take me too long to come to the conclusion, thanks to our wonderful liturgy and the Word spoken in the readings and sermon, that our life on earth is made meaningful by the same reason that our Lord sent his one and only son to die in our place, hanging on a tree. He loves us all and gave us life in Christ so that our tiny, little, pointless existence is made meaningful and wonderful through the fulfillment of his promise.

Now, you must be wondering, what the heck does this have to do with death? Well, here comes some law and gospel! (hehe! I always wanted to say that!)


What is death? Is it not just a part of what sin is, and what the fall of man has caused to befall on the whole face of the earth? Without sin there is no death and destruction (...can you tell what I'm leading up to now?). We as humans like to mis lead ourselves and think we're perfect, but the gosh darn truth is that each and every single one of us is sinful and falls horribly short of the glory of God. We are lower than dirt, we are nothing and totally meaningless...but for one thing. Through the means of grace (the Word, Baptism, and Holy Communion) and the forgiveness of sins, granted to us in Christ, our sins are covered and we can rejoice that sin, death, and the power of the devil have already been conquered for us! We need not fear death, it is nothing compared to the love and saving faith found in our heavenly Father through Christ, by the help of the Holy Ghost!

Sadly, many of the people around us do not know about this gift of eternal life. They walk around blindly fearing what they understand to be the unknown or the abyss that is the afterlife.

Many cultures throughout time have come up with what they conceive to be "the life after death." The Greeks and Romans believed in the River Styx and Hades. While such people as the Egyptians believed in a very materialistic afterlife, where they had to take all they needed into the grave (including servants) with them. My point is, that these people feared death so much that they came up with many lavish and over the top ideas of what it would be like and how they would get to where they thought they were going.

Even today many people continue to do this. Look at the predominate religions around you. Take the Muslims for example, they blow themselves up in fear that they can never do enough to get to "heaven" and then they believe they are promised virgin wives and all kinds of other lies. I believe that Mohammed was not only a crazed, attention seeking lunatic, but that he was also so afraid of death that he had to make up some answer as to how he and his followers would make it to their ill-conceived "perfect" afterlife.

Also, some Christians today have these messed up views on how one should get to heaven. Instead of believing in Christ as the only one who can cover our sins, they believe, to an extent, that they must work their way into heaven...it's not what God does for mankind, it's what mankind can do for God.

My point is (gasp, I'm finally getting to it!) that fear of death is nothing new, but we as Christians should focus our eyes on Christ and the saving faith. We should seek comfort in the fact that there is nothing we can do, for he has already done it all, and that we are promised such joy in heaven that we as sinful human beings cannot even comprehend it. Death is nothing, it has already been overcome and through saving faith we no longer must fear it! Eternal Life is ours and the greatest part is that we need not worry about death, for we are made meaningful and so very much more alive in Christ than we could ever be as sinful human beings on earth.

So, next time you are sitting in church, and one of those great Lutheran hymns of repentance and salvation come along, sing out with all your joy and hope! For you know you are Saved, through faith, just as we have been promised by the Lord on High!