This is the time of year when my owner can be seen climbing up ladders. I used to think that because he couldn’t fly, he was trying to experience what it’s like to be a bird. And watching him wobble around on the topmost rungs, led me to believe that this ‘human bird’ had extremely bad vertigo.
Then I came to realise that he was cleaning out nestboxes ahead of the Winter. He’s got loads and loads of them dotted around the garden and the outside of the house. And a great many of them tell a story of both new life and death.
Some of the nestboxes contain beautifully formed nests from which all chicks have successfully fledged. Occasionally, my owner will find one chick, that, for whatever reason, didn’t quite make it into the outside world. And in some of the boxes, he will find the bodies of adult birds that have come to the end of their natural lifespan, having used them to roost in. Within the wooden framework of each box, stories of life and death are inextricably linked.
Humans are rather different to the rest of creation. Because while they embrace life, so very few of them are prepared to face or accept the inevitability of death. For many, death is not a gateway to a new and better life but the complete and utter termination of their very existence. And so they try to hide from it or ignore it for as long as they are able. Despite the fact that death is very much a part of the rhythm of life.
Facing up to death is all about trusting in the reality and salvation of Jesus. It’s about taking a leap of faith. And when we can do that, there’s no longer any reason to be afraid of dying.
“My home is in Heaven. I’m just passing through this world.”
(Billy Graham: [1918-2018]: Prominent American evangelist)
“Someday a loving hand will be laid upon our shoulder and this brief message will be given: ‘Come home.’”
(Billy Graham: as above)
“One of the primary goals in life…. Should be to prepare for death. Everything else should be secondary.”
(Billy Graham: as above)
“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’."
(Luke 23:43)
“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you”.
(John 14:2)
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
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