The Unwelcome Certainty of Life

This morning, two headlines on the back page of our local newspaper got my attention. The first read, "Grave crisis: No room for London's dead." The story went on to discuss a serious shortage of burial space in England's largest city. And when you consider that London has been around some 2000 years, it's not surprising to read that cemeteries are running out of room. The second headline read, "Wal-Mart starts selling caskets online."  So for as little as $999 you can order a "Dad Remembered" or "Mom Remembered" casket for your departed loved one (and yes, you don't have to purchase a needed casket from a funeral  home - a federal law requires funeral homes to accept third-party caskets).

Both of these articles are a stark (I am going to avoid using the word "grave" here - :)) reminder that death awaits us all. No matter how hard we try to avoid thinking about it (and in many cases try to delay it with our attempts to remain young) - death is inevitable. And none of us know just when death will come knocking on our door! So getting prepared is not a bad idea. In fact, it is a pretty good one. Some people see pre-planning of one's funeral as being morbid. I see it as being prudent. Having had to go through with my siblings the planning of both of my parents' funerals - I know how difficult it is to make decisions while being emotionally drained. Why not spare your loved ones from having to go through this? Make the decisions for them so they don't have to guess about what you would have wanted. And relieve them the necessity of making tough calls when they are in the midst of the often overwhelming pain of grief.

In addition, getting prepared for death also involves getting ready to meet God. The Scripture is clear that "just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Did you catch that? There is an "after that" to death. And the "after that" is judgment. Are you ready to face God's judgment?  How does one "get ready?"  Take a moment and check out the following web site - it will explain how to "get ready!" --  http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj