dying

Dying well is a lost art. Most of us are so scared of death that we don't want to even think about it much less consider how to die well. But how can you live well if you're not in touch with your oncoming death. The truth is, our days are limited, they will not last forever. How will we spend them? There will be a point in time when we take our last breath and the canvas of our lives will be finished. But what will it say? Or to be more theologically correct, Act 1 of a great play will be finished. The better Acts are to come but this one will surely be finished. Our spirits will be disconnected from our bodies until they are returned to us fixed, repaired, and glorious.

But how will we die? Will have to be dragged off the stage after that first Act or will we gracefully exit, excited about what is to come? I think this is one of the serious downfalls of living in a society with the technology to keep us "alive" even after we lose consciousness. We are much less in touch with our own mortality and so we don't learn how to die well. Also, we are seldom with people when they die. People don't consciously die in homes anymore and so few of us get to see someone die. I don't say that with morbid fascination but just to say we don't have many models. When I was a kid I remember thinking that I wanted to die in my sleep. I was so afraid of the pain involved that I figured going in your sleep is the way to go. If the Lord sees fit to take me that way then I won't complain but tonight I hope that when I die I am able to be with those I care most about and consciously commit my spirit to the Lord as Jesus did. Has anyone ever died as well as he did? Here was an innocent man, taking on the punishment that others deserved, experiencing the cruelest form of death that has probably ever been invented. While dying, he asks for the forgiveness of his tormentors, asks his friend to care for his mom, offers eternal life to those dying with him, goes through hell and separation from the Father, comes through it and with joy (I believe) says, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

My days are numbered though I do not know the number. I want to spend my remaining days living intentionally. I want to make them count for something. I can trust that whatever the Lord has planned for my life, I will not die until its complete. That's a good feeling. I hope and pray that in death I can bring honor to the one who makes life worth living.