Loss.

Loss.

A warning if you will, this blog will have some of my personal beliefs in it – I present them not for argument or to offend, but because they are my beliefs and that’s all there is to it.

My Grandmother goes in for surgery tomorrow; she is 80 years old and may not come out of it. My Grandfather (on the other side) is similarly aged and is going downhill rapidly. Next weekend all being well, I will go and see him for what may very well be the last time. This will leave me with only one grandparent left alive (my other grandfather having died a few years ago).

Now people may say that I’m heartless or callous, or in fact that my whole family is inclined that way. We tend to celebrate at funerals. Now don’t get me wrong – we are sad and we will miss the person very much, but we know where they are and we know that we WILL see them again. Now most who know me would say that I’m a bit out there, and rightfully so. I’m a weird sort of a guy, it’s true, and part of what makes me that way is my belief in God and his son Jesus Christ. And it is partially this belief and the current situation that I find myself in that has caused me to call into question what it is that others believe and what others feel during such times.

I know that my grandfather, or at least his essence – what we call a spirit - is in Heaven. I will see him again when I die and go to be with Christ; I will also see all those whom I have lost between that time and this who believe in Christ as their saviour. I will not see, however, many of my friends (at least at this time because they are not Christians) who do not believe, this saddens me and I, in my own way, continually try to teach them what I know to be true.

Now many people say that they believe that they will see their loved ones again once they die; others believe that we decay to nothing; and still others believe that we are reincarnated and live our lives once more. These are just some examples; there are many more. But one thing strikes me about all of these beliefs, while they are often espoused at funerals and during life, there seems to be a general lack of conviction behind the proclamations. I say this not because I doubt the faith of the people but rather from what I have observed at funerals of those who do/did not believe as my family and I do – that there is a firm certainty behind our faith, a conviction of truth that allows us to know and not merely hope, to stand strong and not merely offer platitudes.

I have a few questions for these people. These are not questions to be answered publicly but rather questions to be thought over, prayed over (if you are so inclined), and decided upon for your own self-interest. And in my humble opinion, eternal life.

I will only address a few here but I will try to encompass as much as I can in this short piece of writing.

Firstly, to those that believe that we came from nothing and it is to there that we return:

Why does death bother you? Why does human suffering or indeed life itself? Why do you cry when you lose someone? And what have you lost?

To those that claim a belief in heaven – Why do you cry so? If you believe in heaven and that you will see the person again, what causes you such great sadness? Are you afraid that they have not made it into heaven or that you are the one who will not make it? What do you fear lies beyond the grave that causes you such grief?

And lastly, to those that believe in reincarnation, what is your worry, that the person you know and love may not come back? That they may be on a lower order or that you will not know them when you come upon their being once more?

Now it may seem to some, if not many, that I am being overly prosecutorial about all of this. I’m sorry if it offends, but please try to think about what it is that has caused you the offence rather than just feeling the offence itself.

And to those who are interested, I offer an answer to your questions. I believe that God, who created all things, sent his son to die for our sin (which was breaking God’s perfect law)  and serve our sentence because that is the only way we can get to heaven to be with him and live forever as he originally intended. We all meet God when we die and will have to pay the cost for breaking his law. Christ has already paid the cost – we just need to claim it. But please – don’t take my word for it, look it up, do some serious research, ask God to show himself to you. Now I won’t lie by omission here, there is a flip side to all of this: if we don’t live up to God’s perfect standard, and I know none of us can, then we must face God without being able to claim Jesus’ payment for our sins as our own, which means we must pay the cost ourselves – and I DESPRATELY don’t want that for ANY of you.

I would wager that, at this point, I know most of my readers personally, so firstly thanks for reading J but please consider what I am saying here – most of you know that I do take this stuff seriously and that while I am a little wacky, this holds true for my life. So if you do know me and want to talk, just call or text or e-mail me; and if you don’t but still wish to talk, just leave a comment. Failing ALL of those methods of communication, check out this link that will tell you more about what I believe.

I KNOW that I will see my grandparents again. Do you?