I think that because of Halloween, October is pretty much the only time of the year that it is socially acceptable to talk about all things death. Halloween costumes, parties and shows all lean towards dealing with death in a humorous or gory way. I think it's our human attempt to come to grips with something we can't escape and most people don't know much about.
As a kid, and a young (and not so young) adult I was terrified of zombies. Why you ask? I think it had to do with watching Night of the Living Dead in a movie theater when I was about 4. I think I have conquered that fear by now. Don't get me wrong I still go out of my way to avoid seeing any gory movie previews and I hate horror movies whose only purpose it to show blood and body parts and someone deriving pleasure from destroying life. But zombie stuff done in a humorous or thought provoking way, well, that's a hoot! On that note, I just had a zombie party. We dressed up as zombies, ate food named after body parts, had blood splatter everywhere.
Humor can help conquer some fears, but most of all, exposure to the truth can render those irrational fears powerless. You see, I've been around dead bodies for a while, 20 plus years to be exact. The mostly dead, and the dead dead kind of bodies. As a trauma nurse I've seen my share or gore, and blood, and pain and it's actually not funny when it's a real person. And the dead dead people, no matter how long I wait for them to move, they don't, they just don't come back to try to eat your brains. Reality is a powerful teacher. I can trust my experiences; dismemberment and gore are not actually funny and dead people stay dead.
All the Halloween and zombie fun got me to thinking,... we sure spend a lot of time trying to avoid aging, and death and dying when what we should do is just prepare for it and live life to the fullest. Have you thought of what happens after you die? Specifically what happens to your body and what happens to your true self (your mind/consciousness/soul)?
Truth is, I know I won't need my body after I die. After I'm done breathing everything will just decay, rot and breakdown. So it seems to be a huge waste to let that happen if some things are still working well and someone else can use them. Over 92,000 people in the US alone are waiting for organ transplants. Each year, approximately 6,000 people die in the US waiting for an organ transplant that would have given them a second chance at life with their families One single organ donor can save the lives of up to 8 people with organs, another 50 people can be helped with tissues and bones. Just sign up to be an organ donor and all the work is done by others when you die. It's the ultimate in lazy recycling! www.donatelifecalifornia.org.
I've been privileged enough to be part of quite a few organ donation cases, it's hard work, and it's sad and beautiful and full of meaning and hope for everyone involved.
The other truth I know without a doubt is that there is life after death. There is no fear in death for me because I know exactly where I'll be going. I'll be spending eternity with God. Eternity is a very, very long time, it will make this life seem like just a dream I had while taking a nap. As awesome as this life can be, the real party starts when I wake up in heaven :) It's just another form of recycling, I trust God with my life now and for eternity because He already did all the work I certainly could not do.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.Romans 5:8I made a choice to trust God with the life He gave me, have you?
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved ... For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:9-10, and 13
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