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.