The shadow of death.

"Daddy, what is death like?" asked an inquisitive little boy one day. His daddy thought for a minute and replied, "Well son, picture a truck coming towards you, its shadow alongside. Would you rather be hit by the truck or by the truck's shadow?" The little boy didn't have to think long. "The shadow," he said with confidence. "Son, that's what death is like. We were supposed to be hit by the truck, but Jesus pushed us out of way so we would only be hit by the truck's shadow." Jesus was hit full force by the truck for us, to make our death easier. When we die, it's just like a shadow passing over us."

My dad shared this touching story at my grandfather's funeral eight days ago. In that moment, something seemed to finally click in my head. Lately in my life, I've been dealing with a lot of death. The death of a good friend's sister, the deaths of three family members on my dad's side, and hearing of countless other deaths that people have had to experience. So much tragedy. Even the leaves on the trees are dying. It seems suffocating, overwhelming at times.

This story made me think about the bigger picture. Human death seems pretty small compared to the death Jesus chose. He got hit by the truck so all of mankind would only have to experience the shadow. And of course the shadow is foreboding and frightening. And it always will be. But a person who is holding God's hand as he passes through that shadow is the one who can say with confidence, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me." Such beauty in death.

This is the season of death. The leaves are dying. They are turning colors, shriveling up, falling off the trees, and are soon going to be covered in blankets of snow. But something amazing happens as they die...they nourish the ground, giving it sustenance and life. The leaves have to die because nature is preparing for a new season...one full of life and beauty and many surprises--the spring. The spring could never come if the leaves didn't die in the fall. And humans couldn't ever experience heaven if they didn't pass through the shadow of death we all have to face.

Those who have left this life are in that new season. That season of beauty and mystery and newness of life. They couldn't possibly be any happier than they are right now. This is the amazing hope we have in Christ. As the seasons pass, keep holding on to that hope of the new season. A season so glorious and beautiful that we won't even begin to understand until we get there ourselves and take it all in.

What will not change.

There's nothing like coming across a quote or poem that has so much meaning for you specifically. So here's one I found the other day, and it pretty much speaks for itself.

Perhaps you, too, have camped by such sweet waters,
And quenched with joy your weary, parched soul's thirst;
To find, as time goes on, your streamlet alters
From what it was at first.

Hearts that have cheered, or soothed, or blest, or strengthened;
Loves that have lavished unreservedly;
Joys, treasured joys--have passed, as time has lengthened,
Into obscurity.

If then, O soul, the brook your heart has cherished
Does fail you now--no more your thirst assuage--
If its once glad refreshing streams have perished,
Let HIM your heart engage.

He will not fail, nor mock, nor disappoint you;
His comfort and care change not with the years;
With oil of joy He surely will anoint you,
And wipe away your tears.

-J. Danson Smith

Rest in peace.

Death is such an odd thing.

It brings so much pain and heartache, yet it also brings hope of something more, something far greater than this present life and circumstance. Death also has a way of bringing peace. The cancer-stricken woman who was battling cancer for twenty years is finally free from pain. The man who has been a vegetable for ten years due to a severe stroke is finally out of that state and free to dance. Beauty from pain.

I've heard it said that every morning, you must have a funeral. Seems like a cynical way to view life, but in all honesty, it's the best way to live. Dead to yourself, your dreams, your desires and alive to whatever God will bring your way through the new day. I pray the same thing as Paul: "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Death is a place of rest, a place of quiet, a place of peace. I want Nicole Boucher to be dead. Because it's only when Nicole Boucher is dead that Jesus Christ can truly come alive in my heart. When I am willing to die, I will truly "rest in peace." The amazing peace that only my Savior has to offer.

Today, above all else, I choose to rest in peace.