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| New Heaven and New Earth |
Death is integral to who God is—self-giving
love. The giving up and handing
over of oneself is the generation of new life; the self-emptying of the Father
is the life of the Son. Without
death there is no fullness of life; hence, death is integral to life. The whole Christian message based on
death is simply this: without
death there is no new life.
Everything living dies and everything that dies lives. In the world of nature, everything is
contingent on death. Because of
death the natural world sustains new life. Death is what makes life possible; it is necessary to the
evolution of life because it is the letting go of isolated existence for the
sake of greater union.” --Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ p
77
When I consider my death, I realize that Christ is my hope. I am not afraid of death because of my faith and hope, but I can't say I'm ready for it. I prepare for my death by learning to "let go" throughout my life. I work at letting go of material things and letting go of my ego's need to be in control. I see this will take a lifetime! I do work at it and pray for the grace to do it, but I see I have a ways to go still to really be ready to die. Someone said it isn't death that frightens people so much as dying, and I think that is true. Jesus teaches us that there is no way of knowing when those last moments will come. They will come "like a thief in the night." I strive to be ready whenever those last moments come. I trust that what lies beyond the grave will be even more amazing than anything I can imagine in this life. I hope we will all see it together one day.
