Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Mourn (08/01/24)
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TITLE: Joy In The Mourning | Previous Challenge Entry
By Doug Laird
08/06/24 -
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I experienced the reality of physical death of loved ones relatively young in life.
Within a few short years in my early twenties, I buried my maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, my father, my mother, and a full-term, still born son.
My grandparents had lived a good and long life. My mother passed suddenly and unexpectedly at 48. My father passed a couple of years later at the age of 53, following a six month battle with cancer. Our still born son died unexpectedly at the end of what had been a “complicated-free,” full term, nine month pregnancy, a couple of weeks before Christmas, one year.
The diverse circumstances surrounding each event triggered different emotional reactions and periods of mourning.
I have retired from a 30 year law enforcement career.
Being on the scene of all kinds of death, be it homicide, suicide, accidental, or industrial, is an ongoing part of a police career, as is going up to a door at 3 am to make a totally unexpected death notification to someone’s next of kin.
A police officer goes to work each shift with the knowledge of the possibility of experiencing serious personal injury or death.
Long term effects of job-related physical demands and mental stress takes a toll on ones health.
A little more than twenty years ago, shortly after retiring from my police career, I walked through the valley of the shadow of death (2), after being diagnosed with a stage three cancer, and given unfavorable (35%) odds of survival.
But much to the devil’s disappointment, the time of my departure had not yet come.
During my treatment involving surgeries and seven months of chemo, I met several fellow cancer patients, some of whom would not survive.
There’s an unspoken question in cancer treatment wards, privately wondering who would, and who would not survive.
How one looks at physical death, be it his or her own, or the passing of others, speaks volumes about where one is in his or her personal walk with the Lord.
The reality and the extent of the Matt. 5: 4 comfort to be experienced by mourners is dependent on the perceived (born-again or spiritually dead) spiritual status of the departed soul, and the level of spiritual maturity of the mourners that are left behind.
Scripture is clear. All departed souls are NOT going to the same place (3), and that those who do go to Heaven are NOT all going to have the same experience (4).
Therefore, there is no comfort to be found when one has no reason to believe that the departed soul had been born again, thereby falling short of the one and only requirement to live in Heaven.
There is bitter-sweetness in light of the fact that not all departed believers in Heaven will receive a 1Cor. 3: 14 reward and or Rev. 2 and Rev. 3 privileges. These losses are not recoverable.
On the other hand, there is great comfort in having every reason to believe that the departed soul had been born again, and as a result, was now, in fact, in a better place.
There is great comfort in having reason to believe that the departed soul in Heaven is in line to receive a great reward and many privileges.
What the departed soul believed (5) while here on Earth is what determines WHERE the departed soul has now gone.
It is the Mark 4: 14-20 production and the James 1:22 application of the Word that determines what (if any) reward and privileges the departed believer is going to receive in Heaven (6).
A mourner’s perception of where the departed soul has gone is the basis on what will be the comforting joy, bitter-sweetness, or haunting consternation, to be experienced by one’s mourners.
With what do you want to leave your mourners?
Sad to say, but most of what is spoken of in the typical obituary and or eulogy consists only of the departed soul’s earthly accomplishments and popular activities.
Human viewpoint sees such things as evidence of a successful life here on Earth, but much of it has little, if any, eternal significance, and will only serve as fuel for the 1Cor. 3: 12-15 bonfire.
(1) Matt. 5: 4 (2) Psalms 23: 4 (3) 2Cor.5:8/Rev. 20: 13, 15 (4) 1Cor. 3: 12-15/Rev. 2/Rev. 3 (5) John 3: 16, 18 (6) 1Cor. 3: 12-14
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