Death of a Loved One

 

                Most of us have gone through the suffering of losing a loved one, physical death means permanent separation from someone we love, someone whose company we enjoy, and the recurring emptiness of their absence. In most cases, when someone we love physically dies, the suffering we experience is based on selfishness, on not being able to interact with them any longer, but in some cases, when someone passes, we understand that their sudden departure is a means for their suffering to come to an end.

               From a Christian perspective, when death takes someone, it is never incidental or accidental, everyone has “x” amount of days to live and the number of those days is different for everyone. If we step away from our own selfish grief, we may recognize and understand that our loved one has departed because it was the right time for them to transition into eternity.

               In some cases, we may see our loved one begin down a self-destructive path, and when their time finally comes when they cease to physically exist, we should see that everything is better for them to make that transition at this moment, rather than continuing to suffer, to be overwhelmed with grief, or to continue to descend into loss and despair.

               Everyone makes choices in life, choices that directly impact the quality of their existence, and the number of days that they have to continue living and hopefully continue being loving, productive, and positively impacting those around them. When someone begins making choices in isolation, they may make bad choices which will negatively impact them, and the lives of those around them.

               One’s use of time, one’s use of substances, and one’s use of people will all directly impact their life, the lives of those who love them, and the potential for continued positive impact on their social circles. Life needs to be seen as a time when we can pursue holiness, pursue love, and help those around us. One’s life is a time for repentance, so that one does not continue building up a mountain of corruption, hatred, ugliness, and sin, all of which will pollute one’s life and negatively impact those around him.

The historic Christian faith understands and promotes the idea of using one’s time to struggle against sin, to struggle against those things that will make one’s life continually dark and corrupt. The more one repents, the better one’s life will be as he continues down the path in the pursuit of holiness.