death

"...Well, I guess this is it..."

Nothing sure but death and taxes.  For me, it was in that order, though, obviously, not my own death.  I was four years old when my father was killed in an explosion on an off-shore oil rig.  The welt that bastard left on me smarts to this very day.  I know its not very Christian to say 'bastard,' but that's exactly what death is-a bastard.  It wasn't supposed to be this way, the human condition, death and taxes, suffering throughout life.  At least the Creator didn't mean for it all to happen, though He knew it would.  And like all things, He turns the ugliest into something beautiful for those who trust in Him because, well, that is what He does.

But since that day in mid June, 1974, I've been well acquainted with that bastard.  It was a lot for a four year old to shoulder, it was and is more than I could handle.  It has forced me to grapple with crisis of identity, a wilderness of loneliness, and crushing grief.  It has affected my becoming as much as any of my best teachers and mentors.  And, perhaps, somewhere in my depths, I am grateful for it.  But it still hurts.  I've lost four sets of grandparents, an aunt, two uncles, a nephew, a sister, and four cousins, all who were very dear to me.  All of whom I know are together with the Lord.

Recently, I was reminded of my own mortality when some medical tests came back bearing the news that my corrective heart surgeries, performed in my very early years, were not complete.  I'm not going to kick off tomorrow or anything, I suppose, but it was a serious check to my indomitability.  However, it has shown me, again, that what matters in life is not the things we stuff in our houses and garages, nor is it the wonderful places there are to travel to, nor the money we acquire, nor our feats.  What matters is the vertical and the horizontal, i.e., how we relate to God and how we relate to others.

It is what caused our Wise Creator to already have a plan of action when death first reared its illegitimate head.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were in harmonious union in the horizontal when the relationship with Human kind-the vertical-was challenged by original sin.  Eve believed the lie and Adam stood aloof as it went down, then participated in what blistered God's original intention.  But the focus of these remarks is on that Divine Plan, that was hatched before the foundations of the world.

The Son, with full agreement from the Father and Holy Spirit, entered this our cracked and decaying existence as a human baby.  He grew up, just like all children do, asking the same questions, dealing with the same pressures and temptations and sufferings-yet, without sin!  He began to teach the truth at age 30, which is something that doesn't sit well with our fallen state, knowing that it would soon cost him his human life.  Then He went, willingly, to the worst death a man could die, innocent of all charges, bearing the sin of all human kind.  Then they planted him in the earth.  Now, I do not know about the how's and where's of his black ops raid on the underworld, but I like to think that He kicked in the door, knocked some heads, and walked out with the keys to death and hell.  He then returned to earth and busted out of the grave to show His followers what it will be like after they passed through.  Its because of the Son, Jesus Christ, that all the suffering in this life makes sense.

My mother was sitting with my Grandpa Burke in the hospital when he began coughing on blood flooding his lungs from a ruptured aorta.  He turned to look at my mother and then uttered those words, "Well, I guess this is it..."  and he died.  It seemed, for him, it was just time to leave for work or go to the supermarket.  He was departing, he knew it, yet there was no worry in him.  He knew all the work had been done by Jesus Christ, and he was merely passing from this existence to the next, like stepping through a door, crossing a threshold.  Praise the Name of the Lord!!  Oh, that all my family and friends have that kind of peace.

Easter is a time to remember that it is all taken care of, that all the crazy stuff happening in this life will soon pass.  Its a time to reflect and get your affairs in order if you have not, so that you can be numbered in that Heavenly Throng.  And its not so far away.  If you believe in heart and confess with your mouth that God raised Christ from the dead, you will be saved.  The Horizontal-relationship with God through faith in the work of Jesus Christ.  The Vertical-relationships with those in the here and now.  That's what matters.  That's all that really matters.