Wednesday, January 31, 2001
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Wednesday, January 31, 2001 |
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Death balances the books of life By REV JOHN HATCHER Monday, Jan. 29, I spoke the following words at the funeral service of my oldest sister, Alice McGuirt Stow. They may be helpful to others. So I share with you my readers. Death is a bookkeeper of life. Death balances the books. The books of our lives. In one clean swoop, death--a good death--cleans all the books. Now, Alice certainly anticipated that I would speak the words at her funeral. Last Thursday as I began reading Scriptures to her, she said, You are my preacher and my brother, but first my brother." In no way would Alice want to be enlarged in her death beyond what she was in life. And in all candor and forthrightness, most family members have said at one time or another or wanted to say, "Alice, just shut up." For she did talk. But death balances the books. Even though she--as we--had her faults and her flaws, there are rays of light around death's darkness, reminding us of her good heart, of her acts of kindnesses, her remembering us at the very time when we her family wondered if she knew we were alive. Death balances the books. Just when we thought that someone had ignored us and slighted us, the whisper of death's coming begins to balance the books--the books are reconciled, love restored, and the true worth of one's love revealed. Someone's last year, last month of life can--if allowed--be total redemption of a lifetime of hurt and pain. I'm reminded of the thief of the cross. He had lived the life of a criminal--truly deserving to be executed, by his own words. But forgiveness in the last hour changed eternity for him. Forgiveness in the shadow of death can change the rest of life. Death balances the books, for it allows people--most importantly family--to forgive one another, to try to understand what it must been like to walk a mile in someone else's moccasins. Death balances the books because it reminds us of the good and fun times. Sister Sue, in her reflection, says she remembers such fun in going to Alice's home. It was always fun and like a party. Death, indeed, is a great balancer of life. But, let's not give death too much credit. John Donne spoke to death in his classic poem: "Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me... Thou are slave to fate, kings, and desperate men And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poppy and charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more. Death, thou shalt die."
Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in Fayetteville.
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