Out of His Death Came Life - episode 203
You’re at your father’s funeral and you find out what your sister really thinks of you. She has checked all the boxes of who you are. In her mind. But she’s wrong. Erin Sur decided not to leave it there. She chose to have the hard conversation, in love, not defense, to be better understood by her sister. Not knowing how it was going to go, she had to try. There was more in store after her dad’s passing. Lots of relationships changed and some even went away. It was like God was moving the pieces on a chess board. This is what she had to surrender to. And it was hard.
This too shall pass.
Life is going to get bigger and better.
— Erin Sur, advice to her 10-year old self
They Will be Heaven
Thoughts from Out of His Death Came Life
There are so many different ways to think about death. Some think it’s the absolute end of you - darkness and nothingness, you cease to exist in any form. Some think you will come back again hopefully as a more evolved entity, depending on what you learned in this go-round. And some think you get this one life and that your spirit leaves your body when you die (which is why it is said we lose 21 grams upon death, interesting right?!) and you “go to heaven.” Of course your beliefs are influenced by your culture, your freedom to choose, and your life’s experiences.
I opt for ‘we live once and then pass on to heaven’ or whatever we want to call where God resides. Yes, that is based on my beliefs, my culture, my freedom to choose and my life’s experiences. As I write this, the phrase You don’t have to believe it for it to be true rings through my head. There may be something else entirely waiting for me. I’m not sure and I certainly don’t know.
I don’t exactly fear death but I’m certainly not looking forward to it either. The idea (or truth) that I will be reunited with loved ones is simply something I count on. Also waiting for loved ones still here seems compelling and something I am relying on. How could I possibly spend eternity nowhere near those I love? It seems implausible to me and not something a gracious God would overlook. So there’s another surrender for you, and another opportunity to trust in his plan, in his design.
You may not remember this part of my story. When our baby son was suffering from the physical effects of his poor health, struggling to be content, I held him and very clearly a male voice in my head (out of nowhere by the way) said, Christian will meet you when you die. And then again, Christian will meet you when you die. I argued out loud, No, I meet him. I meet him! The moment passed, the voice now gone, I was a bit rattled but in the back of my mind I felt I had been given a promise.
Sure enough Christian did die a short time later. Looking back I am very thankful to have received such a message. I know for some it will be easy to explain away this exchange. It doesn’t matter. I know what I know. I plan on seeing him at that date and time when ‘all the days ordained for me were written in your book' have come to be. And while I may not initially recognize him, his eyes will give him away. I will be looking into the eyes of a loved one, with more to be reunited with, and even more to wait for. This will be heaven to me.
It’s the eyes that say more than words could ever utter.
— RCN
