Celebration of Life Lo!
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Whether or not you have been watching the news recently, it’s impossible to be unaware of the devastation occurring everywhere, threatening to overwhelm us.
Reports abound of people who lost their lives in floods.
There was a house fire in which a body was found by firefighters in the aftermath of the debris. In numerous conflicts around the world, people literally do not know from one minute to the next whether they will have time to run for shelter from the persistent bombing, day and night. Watching the news the other day, I was aware of the different emotions that washed over me with each bulletin. However, there was one that stopped me in my tracks and sucked the very air from my lungs. It was the shocking news of the murder of a mother and her four children! Although this occurred in another country far from where I live, and though I have no personal connection with that family, I found myself riveted to the screen as I watched the celebration of life service for those five precious people.
A huge auditorium was filled to capacity with friends, relatives, supporters, and media personnel. Police and security officials were on hand to maintain safety protocols.
An audible hush filled the hall as everyone’s attention was drawn to the five caskets up front, bedecked with beautiful floral arrangements.
Now let us pause here and think for a moment about the return of Christ to this earth. There will be millions in attendance at that great event.
Some will be alive to witness the event, while others will be raised from their graves. Here is how Paul describes that day: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. . . . Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:51–57, NIV).
My friends, what a celebration of life forevermore that will be!
Doreen Evans-Yorke
