"Why don't we talk about death?"
I spent a few hours with a dear friend this evening.
I have walked the road of "life and death" with her twice.
She has two children in heaven-
an infant daughter, born a few months before Ruth,
and one of her sons who died of cancer when he was thirteen.
It is the first time we have spent time together since Bill died.
In the course of our conversation she asked the question,
"Why don't we talk about death?"
Not as in why didn't she and I discuss it,
but rather,
why don't we as a society/culture talk about death.
We went on to share some of our thoughts.
Since I got home Sarah and I have been talking about it.
Death is scary.
The thought of death makes us uncomfortable.
Talking about death is painful.
When we think about death we think about pain.
When we talk about someone who has died, it makes it more real.
We don't know a lot about death-
but what I do know
is that for a Christian death is not the end of life,
but rather,
it is the way we pass from this shadow of life
to real, unhindered life, in the presence of God.
So I wonder,
why are we,
even believers,
often fearful of death?
Is it the pain that we associate with it?
Is it the worry about what will happen to our loved ones?
Is it that we are afraid that no one will remember we were here?
I look at the life of her son.
I look at the life of Bill.
And I see that in life, in death, and even after death, faith speaks.
I have walked the road of "life and death" with her twice.
She has two children in heaven-
an infant daughter, born a few months before Ruth,
and one of her sons who died of cancer when he was thirteen.
It is the first time we have spent time together since Bill died.
In the course of our conversation she asked the question,
"Why don't we talk about death?"
Not as in why didn't she and I discuss it,
but rather,
why don't we as a society/culture talk about death.
We went on to share some of our thoughts.
Since I got home Sarah and I have been talking about it.
Death is scary.
The thought of death makes us uncomfortable.
Talking about death is painful.
When we think about death we think about pain.
When we talk about someone who has died, it makes it more real.
We don't know a lot about death-
but what I do know
is that for a Christian death is not the end of life,
but rather,
it is the way we pass from this shadow of life
to real, unhindered life, in the presence of God.
So I wonder,
why are we,
even believers,
often fearful of death?
Is it the pain that we associate with it?
Is it the worry about what will happen to our loved ones?
Is it that we are afraid that no one will remember we were here?
I look at the life of her son.
I look at the life of Bill.
And I see that in life, in death, and even after death, faith speaks.
"By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks."
Hebrews 11:4
I like your observation-I know for me-I don't talk about my grandparents-even though it's been 2 1/2 years-it still hurts and brings tears to my eyes. And my heart starts to hurt so that I think it will burst with grief inside me. So that is why I don't talk about it--. I know that I will see my grandma in Heaven and I am not sure about Granddad, but this is my opinion for me personally. I cannot speak for anyone else. Pastor George Markey Sr. used to say that when he died, don't cry for him, he's crying for us b/c we are left here on the earth. He talked about his death all the time. But it was more to make a point of "where are you going to be when you die. I liked the way he addressed it.
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