Grappling With Death

 Let not your heart be troubled, trust in God (John 14:1). As we hear the death of a loved one, we rise in protest and complaints; we wish the news were not true. In the hearts and minds of those who love, people always remain young; they never become old enough to die. Often what determines our age is the love of people around us. Our protest ends when we know that he/she is with someone more dear and loving than ourselves.

Once a master had a large garden of rose plants planted, handed it over to a gardener to take care of it. The gardener along with his entire family stayed in the garden and took care of the rose plants. The rose plants grew up, had buds and flowers. And there in the middle of the garden was an amazing rose flower; it stood part from all other in its beauty and charm. The gardener and his entire household loved that flower. One day the gardener had gone to the market and arriving back home, and he found the rose plucked off. He protested, yelled, even cried, and asked who plucked the rose flower? There was a gentle voice of his wife from the house, ‘the master’. The gardener fell silent. Though heavy with grief, a sense of satisfaction and contentment came over him. No true beauty is ever lost in God's economy. Though bodies return to dust, beauty and purpose flows back to its source. Life—inspired and accompanied by the divine master—continues. We humans protest for a while and then go silent.

The fear surrounding death often stems from its ability to disrupt the lives of those left behind; it challenges our sense of continuity, altering familial dynamics and reshaping responsibilities. Death affects us in very many levels. For some it is the loss a friend, or spouse, or parent, or child, or for some it affects their livelihood, their pillar of support and strength, and so on. No matter where death has touched us, affected us, god brings us back to life. That is also the larger meaning of resurrection. As we grapple with grief, we may find ourselves better prepared to face life's uncertainties.

Jesus’ abrupt departure was a shock to the apostles. They had great hopes when Jesus called them to Bethany. Bethany is a place where Jesus acted like a master: it was here that Jesus cursed the fig tree for not bearing fruit; it was from here he undertook his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The apostles thought he would take necessary actions to establish his kingdom, announce who would sit at his right and left etc. To their amazement Jesus blessed them and gently took off from their midst. It is not surprising that the apostles stood their gazing up to heaven.

It was a clear message to the apostles; it is a clear message to us that everything need not be fixed. As a church, family, etc. We often turn out to be control freaks. We have to fix everything. We have to be the people who complete everything. Some incompletions, some imperfections are okay.

Randy paunch was an American educator and professor. He had his own dream about his life, family, etc. When he was 47, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was told that he would have only six months of healthy life. He was shocked, but took it positively. He decided to go around delivering his last lecture, giving hope and optimism, which now available as a book called, the last lecture. One of the outstanding messages from his last lecture was ‘everything need not be fixed’. It means to have faith.

Lazarus was in tomb for more than a couple of days. According to Jewish tradition everything was ended. Martha and Mary kept crying, sad, and protesting: if you were here my brother would not have died. After days of protest, when Jesus came, he told Martha, ‘I am the resurrection and life, do you believe?’ Martha, perhaps falling on her knees said, ‘yes Lord, I believe’, and fell silent. After which the scriptures do not talk of Martha being agitated by any lose in her life. As we grapple with grief and understand it in the light of faith, we may find ourselves better prepared to face life's uncertainties.