two/ ways\
Death. The thing some are afraid of. "I can't lose her, she's my daughter. I can't lose him, he's my dad. If I lose one more friend, one more family member. . ." Death's sting is strong and painful and every griever knows this. They know it because they experience it. All of it. The sleepless nights, the swollen eyes, the endless reminders that pop up in every corner, angle, and view of any visited room, they know the stinging ache death brings. By the end, they know it by heart, it's normal and natural to them. Death. The thing not a single soul wants to experience.
Death. The thing that changed us all. A baby, born in a manger with no room in the inn, lived a perfect life - a flawless life - delivering the Word of God to those in need of hearing it. Flawlessly perfect He was, Jesus deserved no form of punishment, no way of discipline. The ways He lived shined far beyond a life's ending. Yet He, despite His good ways and loving heart, was ripped to shreds, beaten and hung on a cross to die. Not for himself, not for his heart, but for the lives and hearts of every person who went against Him. Death. The thing that gives life.
Two ways. There are two ways we can look at death. We can look at it the first way, as a fear, as something we're afraid of witnessing and embarking upon, or we can look at it the second way, as a gift of abundant life.
I can promise you I have cried tears until no tears would flow anymore. I have screamed louder than any angered man. I have hit walls harder than my brain can think, and I have kicked and flailed like I can't control myself,yet it all comes back to this - on earth as it is in Heaven. Every ugly tear, every loud scream, every beaten wall, every uncontrolled flail is another kiss to my loved one in Heaven. Every time we grieve, we don't realize that Heaven is rejoicing. Our loved ones are rejoicing, singing, smiling, laughing, singing, and praising with our Savior, our resurrected King. Our loved ones are Home, living the best life.
We can't see them, we can't hear them, we can't talk to them, sing with them, dance with them, sleep with them, but they're there. They're always there just like our Jesus, is always there. It's so easy to see death as way one, a fear, an anxiety. It's so easy to sleep with one eye open so that the person next to us won't leave us in the night. But death isn't loss, it's only gain. We lost Jesus when He left the world yet we gained Him right back when He went Home. Its the same for us, we don't lose loved ones, we gain them right back when they go Home.
I didn't learn this overnight. I learned this through my swollen eyes, my ugly screams, and my longing to hold tight and listen closely to the only thing I wanted to hold and hear - her hand and her voice. It burns, it aches, it hurts, it stings - it's death, but within all that ugliness, it's beautiful. I still hear her angelic voice every night because I didn't lose her when she left me, I got her right back. The only thing that's different is she is Home, living the best life with the best people.
It's not about death, it's about life, and oh how much of it we attain everytime we say goodbye. Rissi, welcome Home.
