Went to yet another funeral yesterday. And, the funeral of my very dear friend, the one I mentioned in a comment on Monday afternoon, will be in late February…. All of this prompts me to ask again something so many of my friends have asked “How do people cope with troubles in their lives and the idea of death without faith?”
I will have attended 3 funerals this year and it’s only February 1st today!…I usually average 1 every 2 -3 years, so 3 in one month is tough. All were believers. All were amazing people. I blogged about one a few weeks ago.
Does living without faith in an afterlife give any meaning to this life here on earth beyond that of a puppy or a rhinoceros, for example? Just living life each day….plodding along….taking pleasure when things go well, desperate when they don’t? We’ve all felt like that, believers or not, but in the long run, that’s a tough road to hoe.
I would never say atheists aren’t good people; many are very good people and have values I have always asserted come from believing parents (challenge me on that if you like)….but hope? The daily joys of faith? They can’t experience that and it’s such a gift. I’ve known people who say “Are you saying someone can do drugs and too much alcohol and lie and cavort and come to faith on their death bed and go to heaven? That’s not fair because they lived it up and now they’re saved?” That made sense to me before I came to stronger faith because now I know that living here and now and having strong faith is the BEST THING…those people who come to salvation just before dying didn’t have it all before their death bed…they missed a heck of a lot here on earth for not believing, for not feeling that peace and reassurance and love of Christ.
Romans 14:8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
Have a good Sunday…..
Z
geeez2014
GeeeZ .... 
Z, very sorry for your recent losses. As to your question, “How do people cope … without faith?” I have no idea. It’s their free will to turn from Him. The paradox is that tragedy and suffering many times are the catalyst for transforming these hearts. I know my faith became absolute at a time when I was hurting the most. I’ve often thought that those without faith must believe it wishful thinking. Those blessed by eventually embracing faith, even death bed converts, certainly know better.
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Blade +1
“Are you saying someone can do drugs and too much alcohol and lie and cavort and come to faith on their death bed and go to heaven? ”
Yes. But it’s never wise to play “chicken” with God. He will not lose.
Resisting the tug of god to Salvation makes one resistant to the tug of god to Salvation.
For Christians burying Christians, funerals are rarely sad, I’ve noticed.
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Z: Sorry for your loss. Funerals seem to get more frequent the older we get.
As to your question, Keith Green sang it best.
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Exactly, Ed. “HE” knows whats in your heart and if you are trying to “play the system” by living it up, then recanting at the last minute. I’m sure that thought has occurred to all of us at one time or another. Outsmart God? I think not!
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Requiescat in pace. Heartfelt sympathies to you at a sad time.
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The answer to the video is ‘not well.’ But we think we are well because we become so de-natured from recognizing sin. We feel strong, confident and robust in our capabilities… until the inexorable tug of gravity and age begins to eat away at all that self-image. By then our mind is so calcified in the form of the world it’s very hard to bend it toward God. A friend whose husband passed away in December saw him make a profession of faith in Jesus at 90. Not common.
I agree, Z. Having strong faith HERE is the BEST. The service Z and I attended yesterday filled the church for a dear 93-year old saint. She had had many troubles in life. But the overwhelming message was she had Jesus. Her grandson said “she made it look easy.” Her son said “she never said ‘the bible says’ but she just lived it.” I learned much from her faith, and can’t think of a better tribute or welcome into heaven.
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Testify!
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Ed, speaking of a funeral that was not sad; after people spoke about Peggy, the congregants clapped…something one doesn’t always see in a memorial service…but they did yesterday. It was a beautiful service … she’d have loved it. Her son challenged us to be like Peggy, to share her faith with others by not saying “the Bible says” (as Baysider said above;.;…Baysider, I was really caught by that phrase, too), but living the life. I went to a friend’s church this morning and the Priest said the same thing, basically “Live like Jesus, SHOW, don’t TELL …” is the important message. You know the old expression “I’m the only Bible some people will read”
I think Baysider and my friend would have been 95 this year….our other friend who died last MOnday, the REAL SHOCKER, would have been 91 in July…….yet these women were 100% in their minds…absolutely sharp. We have another dear friend who was born in 1918! She still runs a gorgeous house on a mountain in Santa MOnica overlooking the ocean! And drives ….I’m not sure she SHOULD be driving, but she is! All in Bible study….all some of the strongest believers I’ve met….
jerry, I think my faith exploded when Mr. Z died and I felt like God was shoving my face down into Psalms….every day. Something I rarely did all the previous years. I felt like there were messages there and He knew I needed them particularly then.
I appreciate your telling us your faith grew in hardship…….
We all believe, I think, that if we were problem free, many of us wouldn’t think twice about Jesus or God or anything other than the “eat, drink and be merry” lives we were able to lead…. And it’s belief that brings us the strength not to circumvent the problem but get THROUGH it…right?
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Mr. AOW and I find that funerals now come in batches. Last year, we lost one of my cousins and two dear friends — all of these people our contemporaries, not the previous generation, and all cancer victims taken suddenly as opposed to battling cancer for years.
Two of the above-mentioned three were people of faith, but one was not — although I heard that the lifelong atheist came to the Lord just before he died.
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“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” [Phil. 1:21] You probably feel this way too but as we grow older and our walk in Christ gets deeper, the sadness is quickly replaced with joy and anticipation at our own “graduation” to Glory. We all pant with eagerness to be forever with Him. Greatest sympathies on your loss dear Z. I pray that happy memories soon replace the feeling of pain from this temporary separation with those we hold so dear.
Christian Hugs
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AOW, the atheist you speak of above reminded me of an old MASH series on T.V. where Father Francis Mulcahy visited a wounded guy after his surgery, and the guy told him to forget it because he was an atheist, to which the Father asked “Really?” and the guy answered “Honest to God!”
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AOW…I’m sorry for your losses.
Baysider and i were talking after the service about the differences in Christian funerals and non Christian funerals. I had a dear friend die about 15 years ago and all the family did was have a LUNCH at a swanky restaurant….only her husband and two sons spoke, and only for maybe 2 minutes each…….we ate, went home. I remember telling Mr. Z in the car as we turned out of the parking lot “But, I’m not done….there was nothing FOR her….” I felt so robbed. I don’t need ‘wailing and prayin'”, but SOME kind of service does give solace and lets us reflect on our friend, etc. I doubt Susie was a believer….but NOTHING was really done.
In contrast to yesterday…and the one i went to 2 weeks ago…and BROTHER, the one I’ll be going to on the 21st, which will probably have 1000 people ….that woman was KNOWN and loved..a Bible Study teaching director for 48 YEARS! And ADORED.
Sparky, that’s the sweetest comment, thank you so much. Yes, I have to admit that ‘graduation’ doesn’t sound at all bad to me anymore, even sounds extremely welcoming!. Particularly since losing my Mr. Z.
Mal, that’s WONDERFUL and I think it says SO MUCH.
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I think one of the benefits we have from aging with aches, pains and more trials than you thought existed at 20, is that you start looking forward to where you’re going, and get less attached to where you are.
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Z: I, too, have similar questions as to how people without faith can even comprehend death. If it all is an end to a brief ride, then (to me) life is without purpose, and disappointing. We, as Christians, accept that there is much more left after we die. We look forward to living with God in His perfection. Do we sing hymns all the time? Who knows, but we will praise Him for eternity. That’a a whole lot more than a deep darkness, or the end of life without hope.
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Baysider…I now understand YOUTH IS WASTED ON THE YOUNG! And yes, much less attached to where we are.
Bob, too….same sentiment. And don’t you think that living WITH faith is SO much richer in general? I know non believers scoff that faithful folks miss out on THE WILD LIFE, but I had quite enough of that before I came to stronger faith and…. comparing the two?…not even close. I’d live this faith life any day over the other. I never was an atheist, but I came to STRONG faith later, though my family’s walk was a strong one. And the people I’ve met through faith are so wonderful; fun, smart, positive, GOOD PEOPLE. It’s truly a huge blessing and maybe God’s way of getting us used to “up there”? !!
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Z, “All were amazing people.”
This comment reinforces my belief that people (some people) should not be mourned, but rather their lives should be celebrated in death.
Sorry to hear you’ve had so many friends pass on in such a short period.
You mention atheists. I think it is more important for a person to live respectful of others than be religious. If someone lives the life who cares if they went to church.
“Youth wasted on the young.” Oh yeah… I sure hope the next reality makes a bit more sense.
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I’m no football fan, but I do like EVENTS and, obviously, SUPER BOWL is an event. I’ve watched a little…during phone calls, etc…. so half-heartedly, but I think I’d like this game a WHOLE lot better if I didn’t have to hear the name CHRIS MATTHEWS every three seconds 🙂
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