Yesterday was tough. I went to the hospital to see two different people. I go all of the time but this was more difficult because I don’t know how long either one of them will live.
I love to have a good time. I am a jokester and a prankster too. But I take life seriously. There is nothing funny about death. Thankfully both of the people I went to see know the Lord. In fact I led one to Christ last month. So eternity is not in question.
I wonder how people who don’t have a relationship with God handle life and death situations? How do you deal with pain and heartache? What do you do when life throws you curves?
I really don’t understand how anyone could make it without having a personal relationship with God!
What do you hope for? Who do you turn to? I truly believe it takes more faith not to trust in God than it does to trust in Him. I’m so grateful I don’t have to live my life on my own. When I take on his burdens He takes mine from me. Matthew 11:28-30 says:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Legend has it that Jesus made some of the best Yoke around. He knew what He was talking about. I’m thankful that God loves me enough to give me His yoke and He takes all of my burdens. It isn’t a cake walk but it is much easier than living this life on my own.
How do you make it through life?
How do we freethinking infidels cope? Well, I’m a realist. I accept that nothing is permanent, that everything has its day and eventually dies. I am part of the natural cycle of life, and accept that death comes to all. I don’t WANT to die – the lifeforce beats within me extremely vigorously – but die I will. I only hope it’s quick.
If life becomes not an indulgence, but a burden, then I hope that I’ll be able to put myself peacefully out of it, or have a doctor who will administer a few doses of morphine.. I have no desire to live on in misery, being a burden to myself and possibly others.
I’ve seen far too many people dying and dead to be under any illusions that somehow it’ll be different for me. Personally, I’d love to be shot dead at the age of 100 by a jealous wife!! No, just kidding.
I survived cancer in my middle years. How did I cope? By focusing intently on visualising myself as vibrant and alive. I refused chemoptherapy, as it made me far sicker than the cancer did! I partied hard, and although given 3 months to live, never for a microsecond accepted this verdict. I surfed, danced, caught up with old cronies, completed my degree, and concentrated wholly on being alive, and eventually, the cancer got the message that it wasn’t wanted, and buzzed off. Looking back, I see that this was an amzingly challenging and fruitful time for me. I had wonderful friends who rallied around and my loving husband, who smoothed the way for me to do whatever I wished. I was asked, when it was learned that Iwas supposed toexit the world in 12 weeks, did I have any regrets. My only regret was that I was yet to see teleportation become the mode of international travel! Other than that- none whatsoever. I would do it all again.
I nursed my mother at home throughout her final 9 months and was thankful when she died that her sufferings were over. I was thankful that as her medical attorney, I was able to sign the papers refusing useless treatment that would only have prolonged her misery. She had had a horror of lingering helpless and unable to partake properly of life, so I was glad to afford her this mercy. I hope the same is done for me, if required.
When hard times come, I know that I have inner strength to rely on, and that nothing lasts for ever. Every trial and tribulation ( and I have had many!) has only served to make me tougher. I hope I’ve learned some wisdom on the way as well!
That’s all.
Kevin,
You are so very right. The day before I left for Jackson I had the funeral of a young 20 year man that no one knew. He was buried in a pauper’s grave. I could find no one who could speak of his life or any relationship to Christ. I have buried many such people before. I guess it just bothers me more now as I am coming to the last part of my own life journey.
You are right. How do people live without Jesus? More sobering question- How do people die without Jesus?
cb
This is ironic. Yesterday, driving around, I speculated on what it’d be like if I didn’t know Jesus. Now, I’m involved in a lot of stuff that’s nice to do, but it would suddenly turn meaningless without the matters of servitude in which I’m involved.
I’ve already gotten to the place where houses and cars and exotic vacation spots are ho-hum. But when the light goes on in one of my class members’ eyes, or a child in the church walks the aisle and I see Peg’s face as she remembers teaching him in kindergarten, or when I stand in worship of the Lord and feel warm arms around me (literally), it all comes right.
It’s just a simple approach of taking life one day at a time, and staying calm, not letting stress have its way (which can be easier said than done).
I recently lost my mother, in January, after a long illness that involved strokes, congestive heart failure and Alzheimer’s. The physical ailments were awful, but the added mental troubles were beyond being horrible. (Go to a nursing home and you will see what I mean.) But, a person just accepts things for what they are (can’t change any of it) and then we move on, and try to focus on the good, while accepting the loss — and try to be positive and not let negativity and bitterness creep in.
Part of following the Jesus Way includes the truth that this amazing Creator and God of Love doesn’t need us, but He wants us. Amazing the release of knowing that it all doesn’t depend on me and that He doesn’t need anything from me but for me to follow Him. And, amazing the joy that comes from realizing that in spite of how little I have to offer an all powerful and all loving, timeless God that He loves me and desires to have a relationship with me.
Kevin,
I truly love your blog, by the way.
You wrote: “I truly believe it takes more faith not to trust in God than it does to trust in Him.” I agree wholeheartedly. I went through a period of unbelief myself and I had to muster that up every day of my life. Unbelievers may call us weak for doing so, but when in pain or faced with death, I turn immediately to Jesus. I can’t help it. It seems to be in my blood. I honestly think some of us are hardwired for God and some of us aren’t.
Great post.
A.
A,
Thanks for stopping by. I’ll have to check out your site tonight.
Brian & Francoise,
It is great to have a positive attitude. But what happens after you die? I know for certain what is going to happen to me. It gives me hope for the future but also for the life I live now. Jesus said in John 10:10 that
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
I pray you will have more to hope for than just “positive thinking.”
Hi, Kevin. With respect, believing and knowing are not synonymous. Nobody has ever returned from the grave to tell us that there IS an after life. Until it’s proved that there is one, I will live my life as fully and joyously (and godlessly) as I can. We mammals like to kid ourselves that we’re different, special, apart from the rest of Nature. ‘Tain’t so. We all go back to the earth from which we sprang, and rot away to nourish the next cycle which comes along. Simple, isn’t it?
Religions tell us that we’re intrinsically immortal. The proof? None whatsoever. It’s a comfort to think that we continue to live, but for me, the hard reality is that death is final. In fact, the OT mentions this- can’t recall the verse exactly, but something along the lines that the dead in their graves know nothing, and have no part of life any more. Jolly sensible attitude.
Mysterofiniquity is correct- some of us are wired to believe, and others are not.
Francoise,
There have been many people who have “died” and were brought back and have talked about what they saw.
Also, in the Bible Lazarus was brought back from the dead by Jesus after 4 days.
I’m not into religion. I have a relationship with God.
Hi Kevin,
Do you have any documentation about the people who returned from the dead? I suppose I could take Elizabeth Taylor’s word for it, but I am sure that being in a weakened state and being on medication (some of which causes hallucinations) would account for much of this. Seriously, I am interested in reading of any reports that have been verified.
I remember a pastor telling a story about Hell and how somebody went there and was so shocked about it that he called up to his friend, “Harry! Stay away!” Beyond that, there was nothing else that could be said.
Have you ever heard Aretha Franklin’s “Mary, Don’t You Weep”? You should hear her line about when Jesus called Lazzzzzz-a-russss!! It’s enough to revive anybody.
Those people did not return from their graves. They were revived, and the brain can play some strange tricks. Some people have been clinically dead for up to 30 minutes, and ( like our Kerry Packer) when resuscitated, reported that they saw nothing. I’ve been clinically dead- and there was nothing for me out there. The existence of an after life cannot be proved- I doubt that it EVER will be. I sincerely think that belief in one is a coping mechanism to deal with the horror of eternal extinction.
The story of Lazarus was borrowed from Egyptian mythology. Did it never strike you as strange that Lazarus didn’t babble about being in the next world, and what it’s like? Had he been in Heaven, or Hell? Why didn’t he talk about it? I wondered about that mightily when I was a kid. And what was the point in raising him, if the poor fellow had to die all over again? Cruelty, I call it.
You ARE into religion. You believe in a superhuman power called God, which is entitled to your reverence, obedience and worship, and you have a particular system of faith. The word comes from the Latin, meaning reverence, or bond.
Francoise,
Do you have proof that they didn’t return from the grave? Lazarus was dead 4 days. You can’t revive someone after that length of time.
It’s a myth, borrowed from an Egyptian yarn, complete with grieving sisters.
If taken literally, what was the point of it? Why not resurrect everyone whose relations were mourning their passing?
Francoise,
Where do you get this stuff? History proves the stories about Jesus.
I studied ancient Egyptian history, Kevin, and there are too many similarities with Horus and Jesus for me to list here. By try this for size- In the Egyptian version, the name was Elasur – and one of his sisters was Meri. Note the similarities?
Where is the historical proof for Jesus and his alleged miracles? His biography is remarkably brief for someone who is supposed to have been so unique. The trouble is, he wasn’t unique at all. There is not a single miracle, healing or moral precept which is unique to him. Not one. It was all done before in many ancient cultures. I think you’d find it fascinating, so suggest you grab some books and eventually you’ll be able to see that the biblical stories were taken from much older sources, like Egypt, India, Sumer, etc.
Francoise,
Jesus is either a Liar, a lunatic or who He said He was.
Kevin,
I can’t help but think that all of the other miracles and moral precepts from teachers before or after Jesus never produced a change in people’s lives or had impact on the history of the world as found in the followers of Christ. Not too many resurrections anywhere else either.
Hi Tim. You cannot assert that any given belief, apart from Christianity, never made any difference in people’s lives. People WERE changed by Buddhism et al, and those who could write did record their experiences. The impact of Christianity on the world is almost entirely politically based, commencing with Constantine and the Catholic Church.
As for “resurrections”- a dime a dozen in the ancient religions. Even Mahomed himself was said to raise the dead!!!! If understood figuratively, resurrection makes sense, but not literally.
Francoise,
Have you ever looked into the story of Sir Francis Crick? He was the man who discovered DNA. He himself declared it was statistically impossible for DNA to have come about without an intelligent designer (GOD), that it was so complex it had to be created intentionally. He declared that it could have never come about by cosmic chance or blind luck. How can you look at the world around you in all of its beauty, splendor and complexity and still believe there is no God?
You misunderstand my position. I’m filled with wonder at the marvels of the world- ( which is why I study the sciences) but they don’t demonstrate that there was one God in charge of it all. Perhaps, given the violent nature of our planet, there was a committeee of them??
I don’t think we will ever know. The universe is so old ( 13.7 billion years according to latest research in microwave radiation currently being conducted in Antarctica) that nobody can recall its origins, can they? And so, for countless millennia, we have told fables to explain our environment.
I would be delighted if it were conclusively demonstrated that there is
a) a supreme being and b) that it cares a flying hoot about any of us. In the absence of such proof, I will maintain that I do not know if there is a god, or many of them. The complexity of the universe may well have been the work of one being, but which one? The Jehovah of the Bible is a destructive, mean-spirited, capricious jackass, not worthy of consideration. Allah, maybe? 1 billion Muslims believe this to be so. The Hindus tell another tale. I disbelieve in every one of them.
The original post was in response to Kevin’s query about how we infidels get along without gods- I think I answered it well enough.
Francoise,
I haven’t started any name calling, so why have you?
I haven’t called your prophet Charles Darwin any names, but yet you call the God I follow a jackass?
Even if there might have been a big bang, who created the material for the bang out of nothingness, even that had to be created by someone or something, how can you explain that?
Well, I’m a blunt person- it’s my Northern Irish heritage and I didn’t mean to offend you personally. My apologies if you felt personally wounded.
How anyone can follow the vicious Jehovah/Jahweh – who commands mass murder, rape and pillage, is beyond my understanding. This is the deity who had to be carried around in his own little box during the exodus – this is the creator of the universe????????????
FYI Charles Darwin is not my prophet.
As said, it may have been one or many deities behind the big bang/whatever. We will probably never know. Have to go to classes now. Bye!
Francoise,
Have you studied the context of why those events were happening and why the Israelites were commanded to carry out those acts? To take it out of context and condemn it– that’s not a logical or rational argument.
Kevin,
As a believer myself, I think the Word is pretty clear about people that want to live their lives without God. They will get exactly what they want – eternal separation from God. This is called the second death or spiritual death after this life is done. The torment of Hell does not come from Satan. It comes from being separated from God.
To us it seems like there is simply no other way. Once you form a relationship with God it is hard to see things the other way. We don’t know how anyone could make it without Him because we can’t imagine life without His love.
The thing about love is that God had to give us free will. He gave us the choice of choosing Him or not because there is no love when there is no choice. He obviously wants all people to choose Him because he loves everyone, but to force this on people wouldn’t be love at all.
Francoise’s naturalistic position is not uncommon. She has already expressed her view that God is a vicious, angry God using the bible as evidence of this. It’s kind of weird for someone to say the bible is a myth and then use it as evidence against itself. So which is it? Evidence or Myth? You can’t have both.
You also admitted to not wanting to die. Where does this desire to keep living come from? If death is such a natural process, why do care if we live or die? The truth proclaimed by the bible is that death is not natural. Death was not God’s intention when he created man. Adam walked and talked with God and death didn’t enter the picture until the fall of man. We have a desire to live forever because that is what we were meant to do. At least, that’s the Christian perspective.
To say Jesus never existed is to simply plead ignorance. The historical accuracy of the bible pertaining to Jesus is almost a non issue now. He definitely was (and still is for believers) alive and well. There are more secular and nonsecular historical writings to back up his existence than most any historical figure. Yes, Jesus is also a historical figure, not just a religious one. Which is why more people have taken the naturalistic view when denouncing God. It’s simply easier to say there is no natural proof.
People with her views will use every kind of weird argument you can think of. Don’t bother argueing with them even though I have given it a shot (I’m sure to no avail). Accept their position simply as their position. Don’t ever think you can change people or their positions about God, especially when their heart is not open to it. These people will argue with you tooth and nail to defend their view. How ironic that they don’t believe in faith in God yet have the utmost faith in their own point of view. They have “faith” just like any believer.
Our mission as believers is not to defend (which makes me a hypocrit) or change people. God changes people and we can only point people toward Him. As soon as you start to defend, the battle is lost. We can’t make the choice for other people.
God is king and he doesn’t need our vote to stay on the throne.
I cannot speak for Francoise, but I think my views are similar. I find belief in the diety depicted in the Bible to be incompatible with my experience, and furthermore unnecessary to explain anything I’ve encountered. Needless multiplication of entities. However, even if I did believe, I could no more worship the petty and vindictive creature described in His own book than I could swear fealty to a genocidal tyrant. So the Bible is divinely inspired, effectively written by God himself? You’d think he’d try to make Himself look a bit… saner… And if that’s the stuff he’s telling us, I hate to think what he’s leaving out!
Sorry, got a bit silly. I’ll come back to the point. Everyone has to deal with the pain of living. Faith may seem to make it easier to deal with, but faith or no, I think we go through the same processes. The faithful person and the godless person both grieve, and as the years pass, both heal the wounds from loss, yet both bear the scars. It may seem inconceivable to the faithful, but I don’t think it makes a difference. I don’t think the language I just used — healing wounds, bearing scars — is a metaphor. I think it is quite literally how our bodies and minds react to a tragic loss. Faith doesn’t mend a broken leg any faster, and I don’t think it mends a broken heart any faster.
I do think there are worldviews that can help cushion the blow, but I don’t think Christianity is leading the pack here. I think secular Buddhism comes more to the point: suffering is unavoidable, all you can do is accept it.
What a Baptist preacher has to say:
http://www.greaterthings.com/Ridenhour/Protestant_Evangelism/TwoSticks/index.html
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