Respond to two classmates on Death, responds should have biblical refrences

Tara Tyler Posted:

From as long ago as I can remember, I can recall my Grandmother saying,” no one was brought into this world to stay, bay.  We all will have to walk that way.  No one knows the day or the hour, but we all must go.”  Such powerful words!  I had no clue at the age of six what she meant or, even at the age of 30 when my own father passed away in a house fire.  I did not know how to deal with, or even accept death.  When my father died, I was torn apart, angry, disgusted, and depressed.

It was not until my supervisor at work pulled me to the side and told me that I had to pull things together, or I could possibly face losing my job.  I had no idea that I was just going through the motions of life.  I was very neglectful of everything and did not have an interest in wanting to do better. 

After the conversation with my supervisor, I began to think about the things that he said and I immediately enrolled in a Christian Therapy program to address my issues.  I talked with the counselor and told him truthfully how I was feeling and he gave me an assignment to go home and to write about my life.  He wanted me to write an obituary of what I wanted to be remembered for if I had passed away.  I complied, and upon our next visit, the counselor read my information and he asked, “Why are you in my office?”  He said, your father would be so proud of you and all of your accomplishments.  As he spoke, tears ran down my face and I immediately felt a sense of relief and freedom from the shackles of depression.  Personally, it was as if my father were speaking through this man.  He said everything that Dad would say.  Needless to say, I got it together. “It is this ability to change and adapt that gives the brain its power to enable human beings to survive, grow, and  learn new things to ever enhance and modify thoughts and behaviors and experiences”(Roehlkepartain, King, Wagener & Benson, 2006)

I had to learn to study the Word of God and to depend on Him.  Scriptures such as John 14:1-3 ESV teach, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  This scripture lets me know that God has prepared a better place for us and that he will come again.

I also learned that while many are walking here on earth, they are asleep to the good news and the promise of life.  For example, the Book of Daniel 12:2 says, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

When we are awakened to the glory of God and his salvation, we are changed creatures, who have very different outlooks on life and all that it has to offer. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (I Corinthians 15: 51-54 ESV).

Now, by the grace of God, I realize and truly understand what my grandmother was saying.  She passed away in November of 2006, and it was extremely tough.  However, God used me for her eulogy, and as a result, I am changed.  I know that God has a purpose for my life. As it states in the book of Jeremiah 29:11,”For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”   Although, no one wants to truly accept death, but it is an inevitable fact that will happen. Today, I find hope in Jesus Christ and I look forward to everlasting life with the Father. Be blessed in knowing that there is life everlasting. 

References:

ESV: study Bible : English standard version.. ESV text ed. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Bibles, 2007. Print.

Roehlkepartain, King, Wagener, & Benson (2006). The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publication. ISBN 0-7619-3078-7

Post By Kyle:

For many, the fear associated with death, in my opinion, is brought on by regret, guilt, or unrealistic fantasy. I also believe that anyone that talks about a “near death” experience is kidding themselves. It is difficutl to understand death for a being that has the inate will to survive. There are drugs, medical advances, and life sytle change suggestions that can prolong life, but death is inevitable. When I was younger, I used to say, “if you die, you die” , meaning that if it is my time to go then so be it. Over the past several years, the nature of my job has placed me is more situations where my number had a better chance of coming up than I would like to count.Yet, I accept that with everything else I have been given, death will also be part of my life. I would be lying if I said I was not afraid of dying.

 

Ernest Hemingway said “All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you.” That is the reality that so many try to escape. I think the remedy is not to try to overcome it, but to live through it. Everyone that is in touch with reality has a certain level of death anxiety, for some, predatory death anxiety over takes their lives and likely shortens their time on earth ("Death Anxiety," 2010).

 

My own mortality is not something that I look forward to; I want to believe that I have several decades ahead of me. I have two daughters I want to be sure to see married and happy, I want to play with my grandchildren, all those things we say when we get older. Most of all, I want to be able to leave my loved ones behind knowing that I was able to teach them something about life itself.

 

Facing my own death, I want it to be on my terms. I have accepted that it is in God’s hands, but I also want to believe I have some say on when and how I will face it.  Revelation 14:13, “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."

Death Anxiety. (2010) (pp. 211-212). New York: Springer.