Death eventually comes upon everyone. But death is often feared for it means the end of life. It is a time of sadness for a loved one is no more. It can also be a time of regrets for not having done enough for the person who has passed away. And life – no matter how troubled and miserable, no matter how humble or insignificant – is still better than death.
But is it? As a believer, I profess that I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Death is but a portal to the next level of existence, a passage to a fuller life. I imagine a child before being born from her mother. She would loathe to leave the safety and comfort of the womb. The outside world is beyond her comprehension and understanding. Passing through the portal of the womb is a most traumatic experience. And yet it is a necessary step to attain a fuller life. So is death.
How do I prepare for death, since I know not the day nor the hour? I prepare that when I finally have to cross that threshold I will recognize God when I finally meet Him and that he knows me. I do not know what awaits me on the other side of the portal. I might already be in front of my god and not know Him. Or worse, He might say, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”
While still on earth, I shall already seek to know Him in the signposts He has placed me in nature and the world around me, through the people that He has blessed my life with and in prayers through which I seek to Him no matter how dimly or inadequately. I remember my mother-in-law, who at the end to a long life, wished for the Lord to take her already. I want to live my life in such a way that I can transition from this life to the next and cross the threshold without missing a step or skipping a beat to the next level of my life.
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Psalm 33
Jesus said to his disciples,
“And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came,
and those who were ready
went with him into the wedding banquet;
and the door was shut.
Later the other bridesmaids came also,
saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’
Keep awake therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Matthew 25:1-13