It is sad but true, our trampoline has come to the end of its life. It has served our family for something like 12 years. It has been bounced on by myself, my children and my grandchildren, not to mention more of my children's friends than I could list. It has served as a launching pad to get on the shed and a landing platform when doing flips off of the shed. It has provided a place to sleep on and even to hold a pop up tent so my campers didn't have to deal with the hard ground. But its time has passed. The tabs holding the springs are tearing and the fabric is deteriorating. So it will soon find its way to the land fill and the metal will someday be a Kia.
It is like the rest of the world we live in. Tainted by death and deterioration. It is hard to avoid the reminders that come our way. Death is a strange thing to me. I do not understand it or really know what to do with it. We were not created to die. When God made us He made us to live. "God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being" (Gen. 2:7). But Sin entered and now death touches everything. There is an odd tension concerning death in the Scriptures. Paul points out, "to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21). Yet he knows that living is a good thing for those around him. John tells us in his Revelation of Messiah that "Death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:14). Death will be removed. Like Satan, death is our enemy. We do not need to fear it, but it is not our friend. It is an affront to all God began. Even our Lord, when contemplating the pain and agony, wished that it would not be so, but cried "Not My will but Thy will be done" (Mt. 28). By the way, this really baffles me. The Divine dying? Conquering death makes sense to me as He is life and gives life and began life, but the dying part............???
I understand that there are times when the suffering ends and going to be with the Lord is a great release. I have been to memorials that are a celebration of the life of the one past. But death is still so wrong to me. The aging process that is unavoidable. The "putting down" of my faithful trampoline because the enemy called death takes his toll on everything. But this is the reality we face.
Paul tells the Corinthians that death has lost its sting and the grave has lost its victory. I will have a new body that will not suffer the deterioration this one is undergoing. To be "absent with the body is to be present with the Lord" is true, however all this seems to be pretty clouded to me. Now don't misunderstand. I do not fear death. (A bit apprehensive about aging and not being able to provide for my beloved wife. The no Social security, no retirement, no real savings thing haunts me a little, but not death) Fear of dying is not the issue, fear of missing life is.
Life is a gift. My daughter is expecting. I was asked if I hoped it was a boy this time. Sorry, no expectations or wishes here. Just amazement that the God who created the universe is forming and knitting together this tiny being in my daughters womb. Awestruck at the thought. Every day, every breath is a gift. Each day is filled with new mercies from God ( Lam. 3:22-23). Our enemy, death, wants to rob us of that reality. I woke up yesterday early and captured a moment as I watched Debbie sleep peacefully beside me. This remarkable being, this creation of God, resting comfortably in the gift of sleep that is also a gift and God's design. Thoughts wandered to how blessed I am. In His divine mercy this woman loves me, and has been my soul mate and my greatest earthly treasure for over 37 years. Life is a gift. I would have liked the moment to last. It reminded me of other moments when one of the little lives given to my stewardship would rest comfortably nestled in my arms. Well, yes, that has been a few years but now granddaughters occasionally fill the gap. Life.
In the harried pace we live, do we miss the daily mercies? Do we take time to just savor the reality of breathing, knowing that it was God's very breath that gave us life to begin with? Take ten minutes, a few times a day and soak in the reality of the God who loves you. Revel in His creation. Be aware that death wants to take life from you long before your final breath. Take it away little by little, moment by moment, day by day.
We have responsibilities, work, all the things we have to do and many are not really optional. But we do have the option to pause. To stop for a moment and hold life. Treasure the moment. Bask in His mercy. He gave it to you fresh this morning so don't miss it. Don't let the day go by and allow death to win. Death surrounds us. It tries to immerse us in its gray mist of activity and deadlines. Hmmmmmm dead lines. Perhaps right now you need a life line and He is there who gave you life. He said something about abundant life, not living in the shadow of death every day. Take time to live, to enjoy the gift. Don't let the enemy win today. Celebrate life and then you can say goodbye to the trampoline.
No comments:
Post a Comment