Sunday, October 2, 2016

Why Do Our Church Fathers See Death as a Gift from God?


Death is always something that brings sorrow to our hearts. So why should we look at it as a gift from God? The obvious answer is that death is the only pathway to the Kingdom of God. It is in death that we are reborn into His eternal kingdom. Of course it is not only by dying that we will enter, we must also have a soul that longs for God with love and a life where we have continually strove to do His will. This does not mean we will be perfect or sinless as only Christ is sinless, but that we must be striving for that perfection because we love God with our whole heart.

We can look at the way Christ faced death to understand the nature of this path. First, remember how Christ suffered on His way to the Cross? By this He wanted us to know that the path is not easy and is often filled with pain and great difficulty. Secondly, think about how we demonstrate our faithfulness through our endurance of pain and difficulty. Third, the best news of all, the basis of the Gospel, be assured that there is hope for us in our resurrection. Christ shows us that if we are faithful, death is only a transition from this worldly life to a life in His kingdom.

It’s important to remember that the aim of our life is not wealth, happiness, well being. Hopefully we will receive these gifts, but the aim is to become united with Him through our obedience and death. Our life is also a gift given to us so we can purify our soul and develop this true love of God while we experience the wonders and beauties of His creation.

The fathers also teach us that one way to assure we live a pure life is to remember every day the reality of our eventual death. Not in a morbid or negative way, but in a hopeful way, seeing the reality of our coming life in His kingdom reached through death.

With this view we will find that many of the desires that give us a stressful life are not really all that important in this bigger picture. Reflect on how you see the aim of your life.  How do you see the reality of your death. Can you see it as something positive?

When we lose a loved one as they move along the path to union with God, we find it difficult to accept and feel the great loss of their presence. This too is normal as even Christ wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. Sorrow is to be expected and we can remind ourselves that our loss is the gain of the one who has fallen asleep in the Lord. We say they have fallen asleep as death is not really death but a transformation of life.