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Now he knows.

March 26, 2023

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14  |  Psalm 130  |  Romans 8:6-11  |  John 11:1-45

One of my early memories is of learning that a neighbor had died. I had passed the age of magical thinking, and I knew that we would no longer see him, but I had not yet started to question the mystery of death. It must have been late afternoon, because I can still picture the sun streaming through the kitchen window as my mother told me the news. I remember it was very quiet, and I remember my first thought: “Now he knows.” To this day the news of a death takes me back to that sunny afternoon in the kitchen and the thought: “Now he knows.”

Our readings today promise that from death comes new life. Dry bones will be returned to Israel to live again. Lazarus will be released from his tomb to return to his sisters. Both these promises foreshadow the greater promise of the resurrection. A new life will follow death.

The major religions of the world believe there is life after death: heaven, enlightenment, reincarnation, or some other form. Prehistoric burials included preparations for a journey. Many people have related near death experiences. Several of my friends are able to penetrate the veil and sense the spirits of those who have died.

Until about ten years ago I reacted to these experiences with a great deal of skepticism. Like Thomas, unless I had experienced it, I did not believe it. I still have not experienced the evidence, and yet my thinking has changed. I now realize that while I have to believe in order to know, I do not have to know in order to believe. (I think that’s called faith.) I recognize that my beliefs sustain me through my doubts and lack of knowledge. I also realize that what I believe may not be what others believe and I must acknowledge and respect that distinction.

Will new life follow death?

A bit of what I do know:

  • Death is a part of life.
  • Without death, life would be unsustainable.
  • Sometime within the next 10, possibly 15, years I will die.
  • The atoms and molecules that make up my body will continue in different form.
  • The memory of who I was will live on for a while in those who knew me.
  • I will have left a footprint somewhere.

A bit of what I do not know:

  • What will happen to the electrical impulses that make up my thoughts and emotions?
  • What will happen to my soul which makes me unique?
  • Will I be aware of who and where I am and was?

A small bit of what I believe:

  • My soul is a tiny part of a larger essence.
  • Just as my physical body will change form, my consciousness will change form.
  • That form is incomprehensible to my present awareness.

I will know!!    

Sally House