So I am reading this book called "Epic" by John Eldredge, and it has me thinking a lot about death and eternity...
Ok, so here in this life, it seems that we always have our eyes on one Thing. We look at this Thing (or Things, some people have more than one) as our ultimate goal, as "IT". When we have gotten there and and done or possessed that Thing, we have Arrived. This is completely subconscious, of course, but we think this way nonetheless. This Thing can be different for different people. It can be the achievement of a goal, like climbing Mount Everest or being in a famous band or going skydiving or being on the Canucks or writing a book. It can be relational- getting married and enjoying incredible love and romance (and, let's be honest, sex), or having children of our own and watching them grow, or finding a Best Friend who will love you no matter what. It can have to do with money, like getting that high-paying job or that degree, climbing the corporate ladder, buying that big house or that nice new car. The Thing can even be noble or even spiritual in nature, like travelling to poor countries to give people clean water, or being a missionary, or working with youth, or being a teacher to inner-city kids.
We each have one or more Things that we strive for, and, as I have said, we often think that the accomplishment or acquisition of that Thing will satisfy us. We will have Arrived, and we will be happy. So we put everything we have into that Thing, we sweat and cry and sometimes even hurt and trample others, just to get that Thing.
Only problem is, most of us do Arrive at more than one of these Things, and find out that that Thing was not IT, we are not totally satisfied. So we come up with a new Thing, and the quest continues.
Now, let's say that I, at the age of 24, die suddenly. Everyone mourns. Of course they mourn because they will miss me, but that's not the only reason. They also mourn because it seems that my life was cut short. "It's so sad," they say, "She never got to be a bride or a mother, she didn't get to do nearly as much youth stuff as she wanted, she didn't get to travel or write a book or do any of those other things". They look at the things I wanted from life, the Things I may have made IT, and they mourn that I never Arrived at those Things.
But in reality, this whole mentality about Things, and about death, is ridiculous, because those Things never satisfy anyways.
In fact, the only place where we will find the one Thing that will satisfy is when we do die. It's on the other side, not this side, that we Arrive. We don't get this though. I don't get this. How many times have I said to God "Lord, please don't let me die before this Thing happens!" Why, in my moments of greatest terror, are the words "I'm gonna die!" floating through my mind? Why do I fear death, wish to postpone it as long as possible? Why do I even want Jesus to wait just a few more years before He comes back?
I just don't get it. You probably don't either. Death is not the end. Death- the doorway into Heaven- is the beginning.
An excerpt from C.S Lewis's "The Last Battle" (the final book in the Narnia series):
" 'There was a real railway accident,' said Aslan softly. 'Your father and mother and all of you are- as you used to call it in the Shadowlands- dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.'
And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at least they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."
If only we could see it like that.
I remember when, a few years ago, my friend Lindsay died, and I remember writing on my blog that although we say that Lindsay is dead, in reality she is more alive than any of us has ever been.
If only I could remember that the Thing that I long for is not found on this side, that I will never be totally satisfied by anything this life can give, if only I could realize this more fully, then perhaps I would stop chasing my little dreams as if they were the ultimate Goal, and fix my eyes on things not yet seen. Maybe then, I would not fear death, but look forward to the other side...
What if we all lived like that?
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