Unexpected Impressions

I went to a funeral this Sunday and I will attend another before the week is out.  A member of my Sunday School class passed away last week.  It was pretty unexpected from what I hear. Mowing grass one minute, then with Jesus shortly thereafter.  Tammy and I were taking food for the family when I heard about the second one.  A co-worker at my company – a guy who was just in my office on Friday – was killed in a car accident on Saturday.

I know that people are living and dying every day.  And I am sure many people have had to face death in a more close and personal way than I have.  One thing is for sure.  We all face it.  Most of us will face it many times before the final time.

When I was about 14 years old, I had an encounter with death. It happened in the woods beside our house.  A baby bird, a blue jay, had fallen out of the nest.  It was too young to fend for itself so I tried to take care of it, but ultimately failed.  It died.  I cried.  I have had much more serious encounters with death before and since that episode but I still remember how sad I felt that day.  I remember feeling embarrassed because the death of this one baby bird affected me so.  Even today, I don’t know why it affected me so deeply.  It left an impression.

That’s the thing about death.  It always leaves an impression.  These two deaths have impressed me with the realization of how quickly and unexpectedly life on this earth can end.  Our spirits are housed in a wonderful, but fragile bit of clay.  It is in times like this that I cling to the spirit, and hold the clay a little less tightly.  It is, after all, dust that will slip through your fingers no matter how tightly you hold on.

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
      – Romans 8:10-11