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April 04, 2005
Death, Thou Shalt Die
As of this date the Person of the Year for 2005 is. . . the Grim Reaper. Death in 2005 is breaking news and the impetus for cultural debate. The judicial killing of Terri Schiavo inflamed the nation. The graceful death of Pope John Paul II showed the world the door to heaven.
Each in its own way focused on minds on death, reminding us of the death of others in our lives, and surely, the inevitability of our own death.
The American Tract Society saw this and released today a new tract that focused on death, and being ready for it. It begins:
Pope John Paul II, the beloved spiritual leader to more than 1 billion Catholics, has died “with the serenity of the saints.” His close friend, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who was at the pope’s bedside as he died, declared, “We entrust with confidence to the risen Christ, Lord of life and history, our beloved John Paul II who for 27 years guided the universal church.”Although millions will mourn his passing, the Bible reminds us that all of us will one day die. You could say that in God’s economy, death is a fact of life.
Because death is our personal reality, it is comforting to hear the words of Jesus: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25). As the ATS site says: Death need not be a bitter end...it can be a bright dawning.
Or hear John Donne in Holy Sonnet X:
One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
Posted by Jim at April 4, 2005 09:47 PM