The flies have gone as the temperature dips to freezing. This has been a terrible year for sitting on the porch because of those pesky little scavengers. There must be a relationship between the flies and the moisture that comes to us from the heavens, our water reserves have returned to normal in southern California. Draught is no longer newsworthy.
The fly is
associated with death and rightfully so, they process the dead. Flies have this
positive mission or purpose in nature but that knowledge is little comfort when
they make the out of doors uninhabitable. Fly swatting is a daily endless chore in summertime
Landers. When not swatting flies, we retirees
also have some free time to ponder the certainty of death. It kind
of goes along with old age as our death awareness factor reaches for the heavens.
The Egyptian
Pharaohs 5000 years ago had only one fear, losing their unearned status as kingmakers
when they die. Death was the only
adversary they could not slay. Claiming to
have all powerful God status they forced the people to build for them huge buildings of stone to house their remains after they die. These were the pyramids of the Pharaohs. So certain were these God Pharaohs about their
future reign in eternity that trophies, riches, spirits, food, servants and
wives were entombed along with their lifeless remains.
This is a sad
way of dealing with death but is it not understandable? Is our heavenly language not a scheme to
avoid the certainty of death? Do we not
expect and anticipate a heavenly reunion with the choir, family and
friends? I know, we are in uncharted
territory here and to some extent any scheme is open to criticism. As much as we would like to believe, no one
has come back from death to tell us what is on the other side. Yes, there are claims of near-death
experiences but these understandings seem very familiar.
Death is the
end. That is the truth. Death is the end
of dealing with the uncertainties and the injustices of our world. Death is the end of the survival at any cost
imperative. Jesus was just as blunt when
a prospective disciple begged for time off to bury his father. Jesus said. “Let the dead bury the dead”. One can criticize Jesus for a lack of empathy toward
the prospect but Jesus knew that as much as death is an ending, out there in
this world and beyond is a reality more important than nursing ours or others
endings.
As unpopular
as this three-letter word may be, no other word fits our near-death life experience.
God is here now and God is eternity.
G. Goslaw
Landers, Ca
.
