People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. – Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Death, the ultimate end game, or is it? There are many deaths. Here are 4 very common ones:
1- Death through malice – They come too quickly and too often – in wars, torture, murder, genocide and democide. It makes you ask: “Are humans really innately good?” Why do we bring about the early demise of so many of our own? We must cease being the “irrelevant majority” and see to it that our voices are heard and actions felt to end the forces of evil in our world.
2- Death by suicide, neglect, famine and abandonment – Thousands die of hunger and abandonment, refugees thrown from their homes. The 2nd highest cause of death among the young is suicide. Children fighting depression and mental illness, living in a world where they cannot seem to fit simply choose to quit trying. The only answer is real, on-the-ground and present intervention, whether it is food supply or “presence” supply, a listening ear, a caring heart, open hands and sharing arms. All of us have our part.
3-Death through disease – Thousands die from preventable diseases, as well as diseases that could be eradicated through focused and humanitarian research and health care. And this is the right of every person. Imagine what would happen if we re-dedicated war funding to health issues? What kind of world could we bring into existence, if this were a true priority?
4-Death through aging – All of us grow older each day. The aged and the sick are always with us. They should be treated with the dignity and respect owed them as fellow human beings. Can we know all the best ways to do this? No, but we can be sure that it always involves caring, love and compassion.
Then there is Resurrection:
1- A US Army soldier carries a lost and abandoned child and his family to a safe zone, away from the chaos and killing that they have already experienced too much of.
2- A Catholic Relief Services or Red Cross volunteer enters a village of starving people in Central Africa, bringing food and hope to all he or she will meet this day.
3- A research team, through years of frustrating and seemingly futile efforts, discovers a breakthrough in the battle to defeat lymphoma. And then the company that employs them makes the cure readily available at a reasonable cost, so that patients are not left behind because it will bankrupt their families to provide this.
4- A Hospice nurse provides a bath and warm clothing and the gift of her presence to an elderly woman dying of late stage Alzheimers. She is not in the work for the pay nor to even be remembered, but because it is her calling.
Where there are Lazaruses, dead or left for dead, there is the need and the real possibility of resurrection. May we all learn to be the light of Resurrection!