It's Been Hanging Around Lately

Death.

It seems to have been hanging around lately. Or at least I've noticed it more than I usually do. I spent Saturday morning at a funeral. The last time I was in that funeral parlor was for the funeral of a 15 month old boy who died in a tragic accident. That was three years ago this past week. I have also just passed the one year anniversary of my grandmother's death. The date marking the death of a young member of my husband's family looms large around the corner. And several weeks ago, as I sat for a normal, uneventful moment in my living room, surrounded by my little family, the thought hit me, "We are all going to die."

Now, I'm really not trying to be morbid. I am not, by nature, a morbid person. But I am ruthlessly realistic. And the fact is that each of us is absolutely going to die. It might happen today, or many long and fruitful (or tragic) years from now. But it will happen without question.

How easy it is to forget death. How easy it is to live carelessly, as if there are no eternal consequences to the here and now. Even with the tinge of death darkening my normally bright days, it is an easy thing to brush away and worry about later. The rush and bustle of the moment, of busy days filled with living, breathing and active neighbors, seems to whisper a lie over and over again..."this is forever, it will never end, you have tomorrow to look forward to, another chance is always available."

How hard it is to remember death, to remember eternity, to focus on things that really matter. We live on a merry-go-round of distractions, pleasures and entertainments. Few of us see the creeping certainty of death just past the brightly colored bulbs of the dizzy round and round of our days.

But there it is. It is certainly coming, one way or another. Now or later.

The question is, are you prepared?

Revelation 1:17,18

"Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death."