The Vocabulary Of Death

Let’s go back to the great optical illusion. My grandma had died. Every single time I had ever looked at that face I was looking at my grandma, but that was no longer true. As a fourth grader I couldn’t put it into words but I was able to figure it out later. Without a disciplined mental process, our emotions will peer through our eyes and respond appropriately. They will see that the loved one looks dead. They will then watch as the loved one is either buried in the ground or burned up in a fire. They will respond with sorrow, and only with sorrow, because that is all we are giving them to work with.

One way we can help ourselves is by being very careful, and very Christian about the words we use about death.

We do not buried anybody. And you better not start now. It’s against the law; it’s a monstrous act. The only way to bury a person is to bury them alive; and even then they won’t stay buried because their bodies will die and their souls will depart from that grave.
We did not, will not, bury a loved one at the Shady Rest Cemetery. We laid their body to rest at the Shady Rest Cemetery. Just saying it the right way will make you think about the hope. And the comfort is in the hope.

I Couldn't Resist

My daughter’s little dog just jumped into my lap to give me my morning greeting. Since I am typing this with the keyboard in my lap while sitting in a recliner, I had to move the keyboard to keep from getting some canine input via the keyboard. Playfully I asked the little dog if she should like to share some thoughts on dog heaven with my readers. The thought that came into my mind was of a vast, green field filled with very slow rabbits. In the center of the field there looms a giant fire hydrant . .

The Pre-Rapture Rapture

Come fly with me into orbit above the country where you live. We will be making this flight during the night, on the side of the earth that is turned away from the sun. This would work on the daylight side of the planet just as well, but we might get a better visual on the night side. We will hang in orbit in our space ship looking down at the earth below. It will be utterly quiet (there is no sound in space). We can see the lights of the great cities below us.

Suddenly God touches us. He opens our eyes to see into the spirit realm. He opens our ears to hear in that realm. Our view of the earth is suddenly transformed. What are these bright and shinning lights rising up from the earth and flashing past us into the depths of space? What are these glad cries of triumph, of exultation, of unspeakable joy that fill our ears?

What we are seeing and hearing is the pre-rapture rapture. It is the rapture that you experience without your physical body. This is the other side of death. It is filled with glory and wonder. For thousands of years human have mourned and known great sorrow at the physical death of their loved ones. It is not wrong for a Christian to grieve. But our grief should be balanced with hope and in the comfort of hope we should eventually come to the place of joy because our loved ones are now living the life of perfect joy.
The next time you look up into the sky think about it: the pre-rapture rapture. It’s been going on for thousands of years. The departed souls of the Christians you knew and loved have taken that flight. If the Lord tarries, someday soon, you and I will join them.

We Play Until We Win

For a Christian, the game is never over until the Christian wins. There may be thousands of defeats along the way, but in the end the Christian wins.

Make a list of everything your departed loved one didn’t like about himself or his life. Everything. Let me help you. I don’t like having to struggle with my weight. I hate having to fight reoccurring depression due to Seasonal Affective Disorder. I don’t like having to wear bifocals. I wish my body still felt the way it did when I was 25. I am weary of struggling with sin. My neighbor’s dog woke us up last night at 3:00 a.m. They leave him out all night and every once in awhile he wakes us up. I love the wilderness but I don’t like mosquitoes. As a manager sometimes I have to have confrontations with people at work that upset me.

For your departed loved one, all of that is suddenly gone. Forever. Every single battle is over.
Maybe you want to start another list. What are some of the things in your life that you wouldn’t mind leaving behind when your body dies?

Act 3

The third act in your mental movie is the arrival in heaven. Vividly picture your departed loved one meeting friends and family that are waiting for them. How long has it been since your grandparents have seen you? Do you really think they are going to greet you with a handshake? How long has it been since you’ve seen your mom? How hard do you think she’s going to hug you?

Keep in mind that everyone in heaven will be family. Everyone in heaven will love the way we should already be loving on earth, with perfect love. Everyone in heaven is a big deal to the other people who live there because everyone in heaven sees you as God sees you and values you as God values you. Everyone you knew on earth will greet you in heaven like a long lost brother.
You have this vivid, visual picture of the dead body of your departed loved one in your mind. That thing in the coffin is not your loved one, it’s just his body. Picture your loved one where they are at right now. Do this frequently. Play your mental movies over and over again. Don’t just read this and then forget it. Discipline yourself to create the mental movies. You already know how to daydream. This is the kind of thing you should have been daydreaming about all along.

Act Two

Okay, you’ve taken the time to visualize the reaction of your loved one at finding himself physically dead. That’s act one in your mental move. What happens next, in act two, is truly amazing.

Jesus told a story of a man named Lazarus who “died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham.” (Luke 16:22 NLT) In those days, before the resurrection, saved souls went to paradise, which is not exactly the same place as heaven. Since the resurrection, saved souls ascend into heaven. And they are carried there by angels.

Visualize the person, still in the room with their own dead body, suddenly becoming aware of the presence of an angel. You should picture the angel as a human form, clothed in white, with an angelic expression on his face. Wings are optional. In the Bible we encounter some angels who don’t have wings. They’ll be able to fly without them. Trust me. You should definitely visualize the angel as having the same color skin as the person who has just died.

The angel is probably going to say something along the lines of “it’s time to go.” Visualize the person who has just passed into the next life as understanding what this means and accepting everything that is about to happen without the slightest trace of fear (even if they were afraid of heights in this life).

Picture your loved one being picked up by the angel and beginning their upward flight by passing through the ceiling. Imagine the look of wonder on their face as they pass through the ceiling and as they rise higher and higher in the sky. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to fly up in a rocket and see the earth from orbit. I will eventually get my wish but I won’t need a rocket to get up there.

Imagine the look on the face of your loved one as they rise higher and higher. Visualize them looking down on the earth. See them moving out into the vastness of space. Picture them looking back as the earth grows smaller and smaller. I don’t know about you, but I plan to ask the angel for a flyby of Saturn on my way out. Saturn is probably the most beautiful object in the solar system.

At the time of death and the funeral your mind will be full of the mental pictures of a dead body. Perhaps you saw the remains of the person at the hospital immediately after they passed away. In most cases you would also see the remains of the person at the funeral home. You need to fight back against the great optical illusions with vivid, faith based mental pictures of what really happened. Visualize the ascent of your loved one toward heaven. This is act two of your mental movie.

Hasta la vista

If you are present at the moment when a loved one passes away, it might be a good idea to speak to them in the moments immediately following physical death. Tell them you love them and that you are excited about the great adventure that is before them. I do not think that it would be inappropriate to ask them to pass on a message to someone. “Tell mom I love her and that I’ll be along soon.” Do not say goodbye. Tell them that you’ll see them later. We will have more to say about this in the upcoming posting on the vocabulary of death.