I have to be realistic—my recent visit to my hometown after fifteen years was probably my last visit there. Because of distance, advanced age, mine and the friends and relatives I saw there, I don't expect that we will see each other on Planet Earth again. That's not a morbid thought, however, but a mortal reality. Of course I felt sad when we drove off after saying Goodbye.
However, since many folks I visited
are Christians, some of whom I have known since childhood, I do
expect to see them again “Elsewhere” in the presence of God in
Heaven. There we'll pick up our conversation that we had to cut short
because of the brevity of our visit. The following is really a happy,
joyful letter to someone whose name I made up and am calling “Greg,”
but it represents all the men and women whom I love and with whom I
visited recently.
Many of those I visited eventually
turned their conversation to the devastating personal flood
they were experiencing through suffering various stages of their health
issues. This personal flood was changing their own emotional landscape and touching not only themselves but the lives of their families. Many friends and relatives I visited were in assisted living
residences or keeping busy with doctors appointments. Most of their
health issues were at least indirectly related to our normal and
unavoidable aging process. But regardless of age, all of us in a sense
are waiting on the airport tarmac of life for the signal from the
Heavenly Control Tower for our “takeoff” from this life of trials, sufferings,
and afflictions.
Some of us would really want to stay here longer
because we don't feel that we are finished with life and we don't want to sever
loving relationships. Others are eager and impatient to leave because
of pain and suffering and weakness. They long for their lifelong
Faith to become sight at last. They pray for release even as their
disordered body keeps them anchored to this life; their cross seems
too heavy.
How can I be a Simon from Cyrene to
the “Gregs” I met? How can I "come in from the fields and help
them carry their cross" like Simon did for Jesus? I can light a candle
and pray with compassion and love for each “Greg” I have met for his gentle
takeoff in the company of angels whom God will assign to that tender
task when God's perfect time comes. And I can also write my heart's
message of encouragement to them and share some perspective to help prepare for what we all must face sooner or later:
Dear “Greg,”
You might have been told that possibly
your takeoff could be sooner than you expected—or you are sensing
that in your spirit. You might be trying to speed up “setting your
house in order.” Perhaps you are becoming more aware that the
attachments of life are fleeting and fragile. A flood can take everything away. Consider this, however:
Some of us who expect our takeoff to be “later,” may leave
suddenly and arrive in Heaven even before the “sooner” people.
Others may linger far longer than they would wish and they need
patience to endure their suffering by uniting it with Jesus'
suffering for us.
But God, not doctors with all their sophisticated
knowledge and skills, has ordained the time of our takeoff. You may
be carrying a heavy cross right now, Greg, but the way of the
cross leads you Home toward beholding God face to face at last.
That's what it's all about. All of us must cross that Final Threshold
into life after life.
God created us more than just a
temporary body. All of us have an eternal soul with a forever
destiny. The moment will arrive when our soul will separate from our
suffering body and our soul will defy gravity and fly into God’s
Presence no longer weighted down with pain and limitations of this
earthly life. Some friends may be reluctant to talk about our
leaving, but it should be a joyful thing to anticipate crossing The
Threshold because “the best is yet to come!”
If you get there before I do, Greg,
please pray for me to Jesus that I may always do the Father's will on
earth as it is done in Heaven. That will cover it all! That’s an
assignment, hear? And if I arrive before you, I'll pray the same for
you. We are one family in Christ in Heaven and on earth. Death
doesn't separate us. Even when we leave behind our bodies, our “earth
suits,” for awhile, we are nevertheless still fully alive and will
recognize one another in Heaven. Our eventual resurrection will
provide us with “space suits” appropriate for our transformed
life! Didn’t Jesus promise, “Whoever believes in Me will never
die but have eternal life”?
Greg, hold on firmly to your faith in
God through Jesus as your Savior no matter how your life boat might
rock with pain or affliction during the rushing waters of the flood
of your health issues. It is only for a little while. The floods of
life will recede. If you become too weak to hang on to Him, Jesus
will hold you tightly. When we close our eyes for our heavenly trip,
don't be afraid, it won’t get dark! Jesus said that
He Himself is the Light. His beloved disciple John wrote “God is
light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” If you are “in
Christ” no one can extinguish that Light!
WILL IT BE DARK?
Leona Choy
Will it be dark
when I cross that Ultimate
Threshold?
Beyond the sunset implies
night
with all its terror and
fright
when the next unknown scene unfolds.
NO!
"He that followeth
Me
shall not walk in darkness
shall not walk in darkness
but shall have the Light
of life."
Jesus assures those who
walk this earth
how much more those on the
Other Shore
who have leaped into
immortality
"
"NO NIGHT THERE!"
thunders The Revelation.
The Lamb is The Light
the Lamp is His Presence
no sun and no moon
speaks their obsolescence
all is as noonday, all is
the Light!
We shall not stumble and
grope
in the darkness like those
without hope
We who even now dwell in
Eternity
shall shine endlessly
as the stars forever and
ever.
The blind shall see God’s
blazing glory
the lame will walk, the
dumb talk
all praising the Lamb, the
Light, continuously.
Will it be dark when we
close our eyes?
Must we embark on that
Final Voyage
with apprehension and
dread
fearing what's ahead?
BANISH ANXIETY!
We will not sail into the sunset
We will not sail into the sunset
but into the splendid
sunrise,
not into the foreboding of
a growing night
but the sure promise of a
dawning light
not with sighs but a shout
Hallelujah!
God has provided the Lamb,
THE LIGHT!
God has assuaged our
fears: IT'S BRIGHT!
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