Teach Me Mother

Dearest Mother,
I have come to know that I'm really going to die someday. I hope that this doesn't come as a surprise to you. I know that you must have anticipated my dying when Dad and you and God brought me into the world. You never told me that I was going to die, but I'm not mad or upset. I realize that it is something I had to find out for myself. Besides, who wants to talk about dying all the time anyway? The illness that brought me to this place of thinking is mostly over now, however, I'm not over what it changed in me. It made me realize down deep inside that I am not in control. God is in control of my life ~ my birth, my living, my dying and my salvation. He is in control in the sense that He created me and I am His when my life on earth is over.

As for earthly living, He is in control only to the extent that I let Him control my life. That's right, I have veto power over God until I die. If I trust myself more than I trust God, I can tune Him out of my natural life. There is a gamble, however, if I choose to take control myself. What happens to me if at the most critical moment, I weaken? At the point when I must be sharper than ever before, what if I slip? What if I can't quite put things together? What will I do? The answer is clear. I must seek God's Grace with faith in His love and power.

When we experience God, and He shows us the way and we see His light, then we have truly experienced death. Death is seeing God, and this is a miracle, a surprise. And so, this is the irony in the way we humans look at death. The very thing that we fear as we work to prolong life, turns out to be the greatest joy of all.

So we, in our lives can experience death years before it comes. We can do this by giving up control and having faith that God will redeem all that might happen to us. Of course, we must do our best to live our lives in our realities, by following the example of God's Son our Savior Jesus Christ and all the Saints. We can then experience God and His love and thus taste the beauty of death ~ that time when we become one with God forever.

We are here in the natural life for a very short time. In God's Eternal Kingdom, the length of our natural life is not important, nor is the way we die. Death is merely the doorway to a nearer presence of God. If we can make our reality here on Earth more peaceful and joyful by seeking to know God, it makes perfect sense to do so. Through God we are connected with all mankind, past, present, and future. As a husband and parent now, I know I must not fear my children's death or my wife's death whether or not it precedes mine. I must not fear your death or my own, Mother.

Above all Mother, I want you to teach me how to die and help me teach my children, your grandchildren. Your love of our Lord is shining so bright that all of us may now experience with you the miracle of coming into the presence of God. Armed with God's love, our earthly reality, no matter how long or short, will be a joyful experience. God is patient. He will wait for us. And we will be joyful in Him for He lives and reigns forever and ever.
Faithfully, Your loving son Bob.