Death

I know this is a deep topic, but this is what’s going on in Reb’s World today.

It is strange to think that I started this day talking about birth and end it discussing death. That is the weird turns that life takes. Life can make us extremely happy and extremely sad all at the same time. It is weird how you can feel such opposite emotions at the exact same time.

Death is a very weird thing to me. I hate it. I hate that we have to face it. I hate that people we love suffer and leave this life. I hate the fact that I am going to die one day and people that I love will mourn for me.

Death is very hard to describe and you really don’t understand what it is like to lose someone until you have gone through it yourself. It is weird to think that some people make it into their adult life before they ever experience a loss like this. For me, it has been a reality since I was a child. Sad as it may be, but I don’t remember life before I had lost someone that I loved. I have lost family members, friends and acquaintances. I have faced death with both family and friends.

It is hard to lose someone that you care about, but it is almost equally as hard to walk through a death experience with a friend or family member that has lost someone they love. Although you have been in their shoes, there are no “magic words” for these situations. There is a complete sense of inadequacy as you seek to know what to say and do. I hate not knowing what to do and what to say. I hate that I can’t make the hurt go away. I hate that the only way to get through it is to literally go through it.

I am so thankful that as a Believer, we have a hope. I truly do not know how people face death without the hope of Christ and belief in eternal life. It is very comforting to know that, despite the circumstances surrounding that particular death, we can have hope that we will see that fellow Believer again.

The idea of death is so hard for us mortals to completely grasp. It is so strange to think that you will never see that person on earth again. No more phone conversations. No more running into them at the store. No more new stories about them from their family. No more laughs with them. No more anything with them. That is just weird.

It is weird, too, how life goes on without them. Although everything changes, it keeps going. We learn to compartmentalize the time with had with that person, and move on with the rest of life. Life almost seems to split – life with that person and life without that person.

When we are faced with death, it is a good time to take a step back from reality and cherish the ones that are still here. Please, for my sake, take a moment today to reflect on those around you. Be thankful for them. Hug them. Tell them you are thankful for them. If they are hurting, be a friend to them. We really don’t know when we will be snatched from this life. What a weird concept.