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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Understanding Death

My Wordless Wednesday is below this post.
Please scroll down or click HERE.

The loss of a friend we've experienced this week made me reflect on many things;

...life, death, friendships, relationships, time, health, things to do...and many other things!

With all the pondering and reflections, I was brought to Jeremiah 29:11.



As I was flipping through the pages in my Bible my fingers led me to the following words,

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

What a beautiful reminder! With all the things I've been thinking alot about...all the questions...Jeremiah 29:11 answered them all for God is the ultimate answer to everything I was asking/searching for. Truly He knows what is best for us and He has plans for us. We just have to live according to His will.

And death, is something we may have to learn to embrace. Joseph Cardinal Bernadin said it well in his speech delivered at Georgetown University last 1996, he said, "...As a person of faith, of resurrection faith, I see death as a friend, not a foe; and the experience of death is, I am convinced, a transition from life to life, from grace to glory."


The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:56-57


My faith allows me to face death with an open mind and open heart. But acceptance of death comes in several forms. I am ready for it. I can die and be with my Creator anytime...and I can leave peacefully and happily. But, if I will be facing the same question on losing a loved one...I most of the time has to struggle...as for the most part, it is easier to die than experience loss/ death of a loved one. But faith is not just acceptance on what our future holds...but it is also about trusting the lives of our loved one unto Him. Easier said than one I know...so everyday I pray for God to deliver my loved ones from harm, and that should He has other plans for them, I also pray that He rest his arm on my shoulder so I will have strength to accept His will.

This post will be a start of a new process in my life. Something I have been trying to run away in the past...I will understand death. I will get to know death. For I believe it is only then that I can embrace it.

What about you? How you see death?


Celebrate with us
and join us
as we share inspiring Bible verse
at Word Filled Wednesday


Have a blessed Wednesday everyone!


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well Sunshine I think you might see this differently later in life. My death would be bearable for me, but if I knew ahead of time I was going to die it would be terrible to think that my kids would grow up without their daddy. Thats the part that would hurt me deeply.

:-)

I have buried both my parents, and it truly sucks, but I always say weep not for the dead but for the living they leave behind...

Denise said...

Bless you dear one.

Vikki Wright said...

So sorry for your loss. It's great that God's Word will comfort and encourage you. Be blessed.

Jan n Jer said...

Seek Gods wisdom and keep the faith, may you find comfort in this. So sorry for the loss of a friend.

Anonymous said...

Well this might be a shocker but I don't have any opinion on death because to me it's just a fact of life. When you die you die and I have know idea what goes on from there. Part of the process. Again I'm sorry about the loss of your friend. Aloha

Laurie Ann said...

This is just such a beautiful picture. I think the verse speaks volumes on how I feel about death. God has a purpose and a future for us and I see it as a new beginning into the eternal life He has called us toward. I am saddened when the person is not a Christian because I know their fate. My grief is far more intense for them than it is for a believer. As for my own death, I fear the process of dying but not where I will end up.

Great food for thought for this WFW. I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend and pray that you are comforted and feel God's love soothing your heart in the loss you feel on earth. I will keep you and her family and friends in my prayers. It's always such a shock, even when we're "prepared" for it.

Alicia The Snowflake said...

What a great post! But I am so sorry to hear about the death of your friend. You are right, though. Death is something we all have to come to terms with. Thank you for so eloquently putting words to blog. It was beautiful!