More Glimpses

Glimpses

(written by Harley Castleberry)

"Life, Death and In Between ..."

I attended another funeral on Saturday.  I say “another” because our lives are filled with memorable, reoccurring occasions: births, birthdays, weddings, holidays and funerals.  Many of these events create emotions that are either high points, or low points, in our lives; therefore some are forever captured in our memories.  Some are the culmination of great anticipation, others are filled with joy, wonder, celebration and some with sadness and grief.  Even in the worst of times, we often find relief in knowing that a loved one is no longer suffering.  

I can never recall worrying about money that I have placed in a bank.  But, plenty are the times that I have worried about something that I have misplaced.  I frequently catch myself looking more than once in the place where I am almost positive that I left it.  Incidentally, that plan has never proven to be fruitful for me.  The Biblical story of the widow who lost that near valueless coin, a “mite,” illustrates how we hate to lose “anything” that we consider to be of value, or of use.

If we have placed our faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be the guardian of even our very soul, we find great comfort and relief.  The true believer has deep confidence that God’s great gift of salvation, through Christ, is sufficient to care for us throughout all Eternity.
But what about when we lose a family member?  A sweet innocent child?  Or an elderly mother or father who has always been there for us?  With the same degree of faith, if we acknowledge that the deceased is now with God, why are we so upset?  If we can be saved and have assurance, cannot we accept a like assurance about their salvation?  Ah, but there is the human element!  WE have “lost” something. Human nature pretty well dictates that we put ourselves at the front.  I, ME!  How am I going to get along without this person?  What am I going to do?  My world has come to an end!  I’m sure that there is a much nicer way to put this, but based on my own personal emotions and experience, most of our thoughts in such times are self centered and to put it bluntly, just plain selfish!  How often do we utilize our faith and try to imagine what that loved one or friend is experiencing in Heaven at that moment?  Don’t be stupid!  He’s buried out in that cemetery in the cold, cold ground.  And when it rains, I can hardly stand to think of where he is.  Hog Wash!  If the deceased was covered by God’s grace, they are not buried in the ground.  Their diseased or infirm body may be beneath a headstone, but the part that lives forever, their soul, was never placed in a casket and buried anywhere!  Thank God for his assurance!  “This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”  Passing from this life through death’s door, the departed immediately emerged in Heaven – more alive than they ever were in the earth’s uncertain environment! 

Occasionally, we make a trip to the cemetery where our son, who died just short of his twenty-sixth birthday, is buried.  My wife and I have adjoining plots.  This is where my body will be parked.  That is until the trump blows, and then it will rise in the air to be rejoined with my soul – new, clean and perfect.  “My son” is not buried there.  We placed his cancerous body there for short term storage, only until the Rapture takes place.  In reality, I am no closer to him when I stand at graveside than I am sitting at home while writing this.  He is in Heaven!  He was met by our Lord and a host of friends and relatives who passed from this life before him.  He had three loving grandparents anxiously awaiting his arrival. One grandmother was left here to experience his absence. 
   
Sometimes when attending a funeral, like the one on Saturday, I am rather amazed by those in attendance.  It’s not unusual to see the remaining family members, but often I wonder about all the people with whom the deceased had come in contact during a lifetime.  Where are ALL those people?  In this particular recent instance, I suspect that most of them had passed away.  And there in that small chapel, at the close of a life, I observed about 30 or 32 people – including the family members.  And there I sat, a late acquaintance of the past few years.  In a way, I find that sad, but on the other hand, what a crowd must have been gathered at the portals of Heaven to welcome him to Eternity!  And, why do we usually envision that place filled with friends and relatives?  Realistically is it not the presence of Christ that should be the most important person to desire to see and express our adoration?  Is it because we have not physically seen and walked with Christ that our minds cannot perceive his appearance that causes our imagination to focus on those with whom our finite minds are more familiar?

The mother of a close friend of mine had for years taught a women’s Sunday School Class.  On her death bed she excitedly exclaimed, “Oh, look at the trees!  They’re full of flowers!”  After sharing that brief glimpse across the great gulf, with those present, she immediately went to where trees bear beautiful flowers.  On another occasion, the sister of this woman’s daughter-in-law lay in a coma on her death bed.  Her condition had been like that for some time.  Unexpectedly, she opened her eyes, sat upright in bed with a big smile and looked toward the foot of the bed where no one was standing and said, “Why, what are you doing here?”  She slumped backwards with eyes closed, being forever released from the bonds of this life.

When my dad died, my brother and sister were at his bedside.  As he took his last shallow breath, I looked toward the ceiling, hoping to get a glimpse of an angel escort, or an indication of his soul leaving his body, but as I looked upward, all I saw was the light fixture hanging from the plastered ceiling in that hospital room.  He had been in a coma for a couple of days and left us without a word.  When our son passed away, he died in my arms.  We all knew that he was terminal.  He and I had talked about that.  We just didn’t know when it would happen.  He was in a seated position and I was holding his body upright when he took his last breath.  I never knew when it happened.  His head was leaning over toward his chest and as I lifted his head to facilitate his breathing, he had already escaped.  I said, “Go David and don’t look back!”  He was free of cancer, pain and surgeries.  Did he hear me?  I have no way of knowing.  He finished the race young.  

The Bible gives us some details about Heaven.  It talks about the precious stone foundations, the pearly gates, and the size of the place.  In today’s measurements Heaven is roughly 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles wide and get this – 1,500 miles high!  When we consider what all Noah was able to load on the Ark, a 1,500 mile cube can hold a lot of dwelling places.  Apparently, beyond describing Heaven in terms and examples with which we are familiar, our minds are totally incapable of imagining or visualizing things that we have never seen.  So, Heaven will be much more of a surprise than that first glimpse of the Grand Canyon from the observation deck at Bright Angel Lodge!

Funerals are for the living.  For saved friends and relatives who leave this life, we should be confident that they are safer than money in the bank.  To imagine that they are buried out in the cemetery is a cruel trick of Satan.  What conquests does Satan want?  He is not seeking mankind’s worn out old bodies, he wants their SOULS.  What was Christ’s objective in coming to earth?  To SAVE men’s SOULS!  At the very moment of death, Christ claims those faithful souls, and at the appropriate time has promised to join our souls with glorified new bodies!  On Saturday, we laid to rest the body that had contained the soul that Satan intended to claim.  The problem was, it was in Heaven, rejoicing, having long before been committed to the Master.  
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