Death is something I think we have all struggled with at some time or another. For many this struggle is a direct result of a loss of a loved one, or someone very close. I personally could not imagine the loss of a very close friend or family member. I have been sheltered from the immediacy of death, as I haven’t had a developed personal relationship with anyone at all who has died, count me lucky. Though luck is not the quite the word; because of the inevitability of human death, I will surely experience loss first hand. On this area of death I cannot give any real opinion. But the inevitability of death is something everyone can relate to. Knowing that we are going to die, that every second that goes by is one closer to our death; how can we find meaning in the lives we live? And is there any meaning in the dead that had once lived?
Death is a shadow looming over many people, it blots out hope and conceals all purpose. On the other hand, people that get used to a certain light, do adjust. They say if you eat a lot of carrots your eyes will adjust to the darkness quicker. How quick do our lives adjust to the shadows, where death rules and the belief in eternal life is a sinking sunset? Most people would rather ignore the inevitability of death, and focus on the reasons, and circumstances of the way people die. This ignorance, leads to the actions of nihilism without the personal declaration. C.S. Lewis in, The Screwtape Letters, speaks to this when he wrote, “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,…Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.”
As a Christian there is light that completely eliminates the shadow of death. When Jesus was killed, that shadow of death loomed (Luke 23:44). With his resurrection, and ascension, he showed the proof of eternal life, and how we are to participate as well. While that shadow loomed Jesus said “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46 ESV)
The answer of Jesus has brought me incredible comfort, when there were no answers from the world, but yet more questions of death and afterlife.
The Blazed Trail 