Abide With Me
The song, Abide with Me, reminds me of being human. Though some consider this a sad song, if you read the words or listen to them closely, it really offers encouragement for dealing with life and death.
Death can look so different to each of us.
For instance, there was the time right after my boyfriend asked me to marry him. Within the week we were picking out caskets at the local funeral home. He was a minister and said he had seen too many people ill prepared for dealing with the realities of death…so, we picked our caskets out before we even set the date we were to be married.
Now THAT’S preparation.
I even got in several of those caskets to try them out for size. I mean, after all, if you’re going to spend lots of time in one, the least you can do is make sure it fits.
All kidding aside, there are those that are on death’s doorstep, perhaps even cross over, and then come back. I think of my friend who was in a deep comma for months – and for no apparent reason. The only thing the doctors could think of to do after all the tests were run was to encourage people to come and talk with her as though she was right there carrying on a conversation. For some unknown reason, she snapped out of the coma and everyone marked it up to the talks.
There are those who have lots of time to prepare for death, and others who have no time at all. They are just there one moment and gone the next.
I suspect that, if you thought about it, it would be nice to know death was coming so you could plan. Come to think of it, we all know we will die eventually. Most of us, however, just don’t want to talk about it.
When my husband became ill we planned his funeral. That was very helpful in the long run. All I had to do was take the pages out of the book we put them in and take them to the funeral home. They did the rest.
I know many people who don’t even have a will today. That is scary. Talking with them only makes them uncomfortable about the whole thing. I suspect, in their case, ignorance is bliss.
So why the morbid subject?
It’s quite simple.
All of us need to prepare. If we really believe that God abides with us in life AND death, then doing a little pre planning will allow relatives to celebrate our life when we die without the worries of planning at the last minute. What a gift that will be for them.
My wish for you today is that you consider your death as you live full and joyful lives today. At least discuss what you want with your loved ones. Don’t leave them to second guess what you would want. They will be appreciative of your time on this even though it might be a bit uncomfortable. Who knows, it may even help you prioritize what’s really important in your life and help you live a fuller and happier one.
~ Joellen