So Much Death
The weight of death is sometimes more than we can bear. But it's in these moments that we must turn to Jesus.
Perhaps like you, my social media feed is full of clips on the death of Charlie Kirk. Many devastated, some sympathetic, and a few sadly celebratory. Combine this with the shooting in Colorado and the murder of a Ukrainian woman in Charlotte, and this week has certainly been heavy for many to process.
Personally, to top this all off, I've been working with an author to write a book on traumatic brain injury (TBI) for veterans in our military, and yesterday we had the chance to spend a few minutes speaking with the former United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Being 9/11, the significance of this day was not lost on any of us. Because not only did 2,977 die that day, but nearly a million individuals would lose their lives as a result of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. To top it off, these numbers say nothing of the countless veterans and civilians battling TBI today as a result.
So much pain, so much death, for so many years.
So What Are We To Do?
How do we deal with the prospect of death and evil?
A good place to start is, in the words of Saint Benedict, to keep “the prospect of death before your eyes every day.” Don't try to look away. Look death, look evil, in the face and recognize our time on earth is short...but there is hope.
You know this already, but it's worth reiterating that knowing Jesus changes our view of death because it replaces fear with hope and uncertainty with assurance. Without him, death can feel like an abrupt end or a terrifying unknown. But through Jesus, we understand death as a doorway into eternal life, where his victory over the grave guarantees that death no longer has the final word.
It doesn't get much better than John 11:25-26 when Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."
And we shouldn't leave off the next four words in this verse that Jesus asked of Martha after the death of her brother Lazarus: "Do you believe this?" Notice that Jesus doesn’t just make a doctrinal claim. He invites Martha to respond in faith.
Do Our Actions Show Our Belief?
This is a question we as Christians should ask ourselves today. Do we truly believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? And if we do, how should this change the way we behave?
I have far from an exhaustive list, but here are a few ways this reality should change our behavior. We should live with:
- Confidence instead of fear
- Hope instead of despair
- Peace instead of unrest
- Love instead of hate
- Kindness instead of bitterness
Now, I'm not going to act like any of these feelings come naturally. In fact, for many reasons, this entire summer has been one of the toughest I've had in a while. But I am committed to taking those feelings of fear, despair, and unrest to help me lean more heavily on the arms of God.
Death is a reality we all face. We cannot avoid it. So, in the words of Saint Benedict, keep “the prospect of death before your eyes every day.” But even more importantly, keep looking to Jesus. Ask him to turn your bitterness into kindness, your hate into love, and your unrest into peace.
