And Now The End Is Near

Today id the end of the Liturgical Year. The Gospel is about the two thieves crucified alongside Christ. I posted what Jesus sag to the good Thief, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Some of my friends reacted and commented, “But not today please. Not yet.”

I do not have a death wish but I often think of death. Lately, Anabelle have been going to wakes more than any other social commitments. Our lives used to be punctuated by weddings (ours and our friends’); then, birthdays of our children; then, their graduations; then the weddings of our children; then the birth of their children. And now, wakes of friends and family.

Life is fragile and tenuous. One misstep, one wrong turn, one reckless moment. Tha’s all it would take for it to end. When I think of that fact, I realize how fragile life indeed id. The end liturgical year always remind us of the end times: to stay awake; to be ready for the Lord’s coming; to prepare to give an account of my stewardship. For believers in Christ, death is not something to be afraid of but it is the doorway we have to go through to get to eternal life.

Our destiny lies beyond this present world; that we are in fact made to be in joy with God eternally. To be truly a Christian, then, is to commit yourself to hope in the life of the world to come. Eternal life is our inheritance, held safe for us by a loving God. This is the great promise of Jesus. Now, how awesome is that!

We all dream of a world where there would be “no more tears”, a world where people would live in peace and harmony. And that is how I would like to view death – the fulfilment of all my deepest yearnings, the ultimate answer to all my unanswered questions, the unravelling of all that I have feel deep inside me but could not express nor understand.

I do not have a death wish. And I am in fact afraid of dying, specially the pain and the uncertainty that come with it. But at the same time, I am truly excited to find out what is on the other side.