“The time when there is nothing at all in your soul except a cry for help may be just the
time when God can’t give it: you are like the drowning man who can’t be
helped because he clutches and grabs.” – A Grief Observed
After centuries of searching for the secret to immortality, an optimistic English futurologist may have finally solved the mystery. Using genetic engineering to stop the aging of cells, and android bodies to replace the deteriorating originals, eternal life on earth may have arrived at last. Could a mortal man have finally reversed what God imparted in the Garden of Eden? An end to death itself?
In the beginning, God created a world free of sin and death. Then Satan in the form of a serpent convinced Eve to eat an apple, bringing the curse of death and suffering to all mankind. From then on, physical death was certain.
With death came grief and the question of how mere mortals would deal with their anguish. And for the believers, whether faith is enough.
By 1969, we were given a secular “how-to” survival manual in the form of the five stages of grief. The first stage is denial, that feeling of numbness following physical separation. Then came anger as reality set in. This was followed by bargaining, a desperate attempt to play let’s make a deal with God. Depression, a deep sadness affecting all aspects of life, followed, until the final stage of acceptance allowed the mourner to see a path forward. A seemingly clear-cut map back to normal life.
In C.S. Lewis’s 1961 book, “A Grief Observed”, Lewis takes us through his personal journey following the death of his wife. Without the usual clichés, Lewis describes his distress over first being widowed and then seemingly orphaned, by God himself. Lewis openly struggled as he dealt with not only the shock and distress but also the fear. “A Grief Observed” is not a cure-all, but an opportunity to experience in real-time Lewis’s honest account of the roller coaster of emotions he experienced during his own time of tribulation.
Throughout his trial, Lewis bemoaned the common platitudes often offered to help ease the pain. “She is with God now.” “She is in a better place.” “This is God’s plan”. Harsh words from well-meaning friends and family inadequately trying to make things better, hoping that the solace of religion could ease his anguish. But Lewis dismissed this simple salve as a lack of understanding over the grieving process. Even as he struggled with suffering, he recognized that it was a preordained part of life.
In I Corinthians 15:26, the apostle Paul wrote: “The last enemy to be destroyed is death”. There are two options following death: heaven or hell. In Revelations, Apostle John refers to the second death for those whose names are absent from the Book of Life, the final separation from God, into the lake of fire. For those who believe, however, there is only life. God defeated death when Jesus rose from the dead and prepared a place for us where our souls will live forever. Death then is the final adversary.
Scientists and schemers alike will continue to pursue the fountain of youth in their ambitious attempts to cheat death. And some may even achieve progress in the improvement and extension of earthly life. But until the great rapture and return of our Lord, we can rest in the knowledge that death, as Scottish poet Walter Scott wrote, is our last sleep, and our final awakening.
Comments