Death is separation. That's what MAKES it death. It is separation from friends and family...eternal death is separation from God. That's what hurts the most. That is death's sting...not the pain...not the last sigh...not the heartbeat that slowly fades out...but silence... like a radio losing a signal. The confusion and misery and coldness of losing the greatest connection we as humans experience. Silence...separation...hopeles
I posted this status on Facebook two days ago. My mind has been running very hard for a very long time now on this particular subject. We use death as a time limit...as a goal...as a "deadline" for what we need to accomplish with our lives. But what if this deadline were taken away? We as Christians should be ready to go at any moment, yes? So, technically, we shouldn't be relying on some day (hopefully) many years in the future as a measure by which we proceed each day, right?
Truthfully, most of my free time has been spent thinking about what exactly death is. Yes, I mentioned it was separation, but from what? It seems to depend on each person. Let's use fictional Mary as an example. If Mary spent her life constantly striving to be the best wife and mom possible, what would death be for her (spiritual aspect aside)? She would be separated from her husband and children. Her goal was impeded by death...not fulfilled by it.
The main reason I ponder these things is because of the phrase we use, "half life" or living dead. NO, I'm not talking about zombies and vampires. I am analyzing the truth of these titles in a practical light. If death is not only separation, but separation from your main goals and the ones you love, then I believe that these titles have some truth after all. A man who trusted no one beyond everyday menial things would indeed be living a half life. He would be mentally and emotionally separated from the entire world, save his physical being. War victims, accident survivors, and often normal people find the,selves in that same situation often - more often than you think. To place two people in a soundproof prison cell, then build a wall between, leaving no space for sound or visual contact between them, would be to make one dead to the other. Separation...silence...hopelessness. To raise two brothers, fuse their souls together (No, I'm not using spiritualistic mumbo-jumbo. Look up the terms if you don't understand.) through common and threatening circumstances and shut them away from all other experiences and people, then send one across the globe with no contact and no explanation......to do that would also be creating death, would it not?
Would this not be virtually the same pain? No...it is more. It is "death's" sting with the added twist of uncertainty. The little piece of hope, of unrest in the back of your mind would eat away what other signs of life that remained. The ever-present question of whether they were alive, or in trouble, or still compatible with you would drive you crazy. Wouldn't you call that a half life? Wouldn't the person separated from the only other physical thing in the world that made sense then become dead while they were living? Perhaps this is just a realization of exactly how bad the curse of sin is. Perhaps I am a little slow in seeing it, but it intrigues me.
Granted, that view (besides the last part about sin) was entirely cutting out the part about the loving, all-powerful God that has given us the solution already. I do realize that ultimate separation for sinners is the price they pay for their rejection of God and/or our pain to bear for not sharing the life-saving news with them. I wonder, though...if you viewed life and death like a rubber band...if you imagined that the moments leading you up to a car wreck that could possibly end your life (cut the band) and separate you were stretching the band farther and farther towards death, what happens when death lets go? Is that why soldiers run to their families after coming home from the front lines? Is that why hysterical robbery victims run straight past the homeless man on the street and towards their husbands and wives after the crisis? Is that why people begin praying to God after some terrible event stretches their tiny rubber bands farther than they'd like towards ultimate separation? I want to know, then, why people become closer afterwards? Why does the rubber band snap back more tightly around those important things? Shouldn't it be immovable in the first place? Shouldn't "the important things" (whatever they are to people) already be that close? It puts one's life into perspective.
What would you snap back to? What would you run to? What would you change and what would you pass by? The answer might shock you. I know it did for me a little. If you are truly honest to yourself, you will most likely find that things you claim are important to you, may not be as close as you portray them to be.
WELL...that's my cheery musing for today. Have a nice lunch. Cheerio!
*~Fur~*
Proverbs 31:30
Psalm 19:14
I posted this status on Facebook two days ago. My mind has been running very hard for a very long time now on this particular subject. We use death as a time limit...as a goal...as a "deadline" for what we need to accomplish with our lives. But what if this deadline were taken away? We as Christians should be ready to go at any moment, yes? So, technically, we shouldn't be relying on some day (hopefully) many years in the future as a measure by which we proceed each day, right?
Truthfully, most of my free time has been spent thinking about what exactly death is. Yes, I mentioned it was separation, but from what? It seems to depend on each person. Let's use fictional Mary as an example. If Mary spent her life constantly striving to be the best wife and mom possible, what would death be for her (spiritual aspect aside)? She would be separated from her husband and children. Her goal was impeded by death...not fulfilled by it.
The main reason I ponder these things is because of the phrase we use, "half life" or living dead. NO, I'm not talking about zombies and vampires. I am analyzing the truth of these titles in a practical light. If death is not only separation, but separation from your main goals and the ones you love, then I believe that these titles have some truth after all. A man who trusted no one beyond everyday menial things would indeed be living a half life. He would be mentally and emotionally separated from the entire world, save his physical being. War victims, accident survivors, and often normal people find the,selves in that same situation often - more often than you think. To place two people in a soundproof prison cell, then build a wall between, leaving no space for sound or visual contact between them, would be to make one dead to the other. Separation...silence...hopelessness. To raise two brothers, fuse their souls together (No, I'm not using spiritualistic mumbo-jumbo. Look up the terms if you don't understand.) through common and threatening circumstances and shut them away from all other experiences and people, then send one across the globe with no contact and no explanation......to do that would also be creating death, would it not?
Would this not be virtually the same pain? No...it is more. It is "death's" sting with the added twist of uncertainty. The little piece of hope, of unrest in the back of your mind would eat away what other signs of life that remained. The ever-present question of whether they were alive, or in trouble, or still compatible with you would drive you crazy. Wouldn't you call that a half life? Wouldn't the person separated from the only other physical thing in the world that made sense then become dead while they were living? Perhaps this is just a realization of exactly how bad the curse of sin is. Perhaps I am a little slow in seeing it, but it intrigues me.
Granted, that view (besides the last part about sin) was entirely cutting out the part about the loving, all-powerful God that has given us the solution already. I do realize that ultimate separation for sinners is the price they pay for their rejection of God and/or our pain to bear for not sharing the life-saving news with them. I wonder, though...if you viewed life and death like a rubber band...if you imagined that the moments leading you up to a car wreck that could possibly end your life (cut the band) and separate you were stretching the band farther and farther towards death, what happens when death lets go? Is that why soldiers run to their families after coming home from the front lines? Is that why hysterical robbery victims run straight past the homeless man on the street and towards their husbands and wives after the crisis? Is that why people begin praying to God after some terrible event stretches their tiny rubber bands farther than they'd like towards ultimate separation? I want to know, then, why people become closer afterwards? Why does the rubber band snap back more tightly around those important things? Shouldn't it be immovable in the first place? Shouldn't "the important things" (whatever they are to people) already be that close? It puts one's life into perspective.
What would you snap back to? What would you run to? What would you change and what would you pass by? The answer might shock you. I know it did for me a little. If you are truly honest to yourself, you will most likely find that things you claim are important to you, may not be as close as you portray them to be.
Ecclesiastes 3
WELL...that's my cheery musing for today. Have a nice lunch. Cheerio!
*~Fur~*
Proverbs 31:30
Psalm 19:14
Thanks for posting this, Fur! It definitely gave me something to think about.
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