A Christian Woman's Thoughts On Death
Start writing a post
Life Stages

'Death, Where Is Your Sting?'

Grave, where is your victory?

220
'Death, Where Is Your Sting?'
Photo by Matt Botsford on Unsplash

Death is pretty taboo subject. It's that distant event that we attribute to "everyman," but not a fate we often acknowledge as our own.

The 'thing' is kept at bay by modern medicine, by removing the elderly from our homes, by special eating habits, wearing our seatbelts, applying extra sunscreen...

We attempt to prolong life, to prolong our stay on earth and avoid meeting this death.

When will we have the courage to look that death in the face, to realize its reality and to consider the connotations?

Living with a solemn knowledge of death can be morbid, or it can be wondrous — to live every day with all your strength and soul and mind, treasuring all as if it were your last day.

Shortness of time makes the time sweeter. Shortness of breath makes you breathe deeper.

So, realization and acceptance of death can make life all the sweeter.

But not so much if there is no hope in death.

To those who are materialists, who have fled the notion of an Almighty God, who have fled the notion that death is merely a doorway, a veil to be walked through, what is death?

Is it a place of rest? An end to the pain of life?

Then why do we flee old man Death, why do our hearts sicken in despair when we peer over the coffin edge?

This is why so many hide the topic in their closet, wash it down their sink.

Without the hope of life after death, the grave invalidates every striving, each power-move, every laugh and love, every joy and triumph of this life. It isn't rest and relief but oblivion, a great chasm that swallows meaning and action.

And yet, we in the contemporary age are a people of paradoxes, or perhaps, confusion. For even as we flee death, we worship it. For the sake of self, we have befriended the one who takes life. We have fed our babies to it, and now we offer it as a sterilized present to those who are sick and weary. Our entertainment wreaks with it, tv shows and movies stink with it, and yet we marvel at school shootings and bombings and debate taking away the weapons involved. The weapon is the poisoned mind itself, enslaved to death and darkness.

Yes, death is our enemy. It is unnatural. It will never be reconciled to us with white rooms and gloves and pleasant lies. It is a curse; it is ugly beyond reckoning.

It stands a stark memory in my mind, walking through my grandfather's nursing home.

The stench was sickness and horror. Physical fumes wreaked havoc on my senses as I hurriedly followed my mother down the large, yellow cinderblock hall. A bright color could not brighten the dim atmosphere. The drone of televisions drifted through open doors, various names were listed on placards, a few residents rolled their wheelchairs aimlessly through the hallways, grasping at you with a stare as you passed. My grandfather's tv was always on, baseball games mostly.

Dozens of old people, sitting separated in rooms, eyes fixed on glowing screens, their lives slowly rolling towards a pitiful conclusion. It was like they were reduced to animals, like I was striding through a sickening zoo, where bright souls had been reduced to fading shadows, gawked at and pitied by visitors, as they endlessly rocked in chairs and hoped in nothing, as the clocks ticked, ticked, ticked them towards an end. And my grandfather did come to an end in that place.

We visited, the day before he died. There was a coldness, both a great dread and a faintness, about the room and in his eyes. You could tell, death was coming, and he didn't care.

The meaninglessness, no, the despair, that infused the building, it stuck pins in my heart. The stench of death is of the soul as well as the body.

Death also reminds me of a different scene, of my golden dog falling in the snow, of a frantic run up the driveway, my arms holding his stiffening body, of his glazed eyes and frantic breathing, as I buried my face in his fur and begged him not to leave. One great and haunting gasp, and Buck was gone. He's buried out back under the mossy trees, and still my heart waits for him to come loping around a corner, panting and grinning, tail wagging.

Reminds me of saying goodbye to the sweetest horse I ever knew, all because of one rotten hoof, and the surreal-ness of the scene as our tears dripped onto the sweet clover of a little green hill, and the great grip of loss for many days to come.

Death may be a consequence of sin, but it isn't an end. Adam and Eve brought it on us, and we have brought it on ourselves. And yet, death doesn't need to be feared, for it has been defeated.

Jesus Christ won our freedom, won our lives on the cross, if we will let him set us free from sin and death. He reversed the curse of the apple that we ate. Dying is not darkness to the saved. Aging is not horror and loss. It is rather a difficult adventure.

Those who would follow Christ are promised something immensely beautiful beyond the ticking of nursing home clocks, but for those would walk in their own path, those dim hallways are only the beginning of despair.

My experiences with death are not only grim.

A man saying with light in his eyes and a laugh on his tongue how he once told his elderly mother that she 'was young' that in fact, she was 'only just beginning.'

And I see light in a man galloping towards the grave with ALS, sword drawn and a smile on his face. His hope is in Christ and not in this life.

And I recall the fictional Prince Caspian of Narnia, his grey locks growing gold in a stream high in Aslan's country, and him leaping up in a spray of water and in rapturous joy to begin again. And Reepicheep, throwing his rapier to the lilies to sail over the great wave at the end of world, to the country he's been longing for his whole life long. And we have this same longing blowing through our lives. May it always lead to the Savior, who is the great and springing source of life, overwhelming despair and death in a mighty current of love and grace.

And may we greet death with dignity and hope, knowing that our true homeland awaits just beyond the veil.

The stench, the sickness, the despair, the haunting fear, the corpses and the coffins, the cold tombstones: these will be gone in a glimmer and a flash, vanishing as we enter the throne room of the King of Kings.

"You are homesick, and I am too. But we will not be so weary always. We know the end of this story, see. We are very nearly there, in fact. Just a breath. Just a few more days of broken hearts- just a twinkling of an eye.. " and He will make "all things new." — Rebecca Reynolds

"O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." — 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

57523
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

37051
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

958787
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

191216
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments