"He dies"

"When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written "He dies." That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is "He dies." It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with "He dies." And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words "He dies." But because of the life we saw prior to the words. Now I am not asking you to be happy at my leaving but all I ask you to do is to turn the page and let the next story begin.

Jeff and I were sitting on the porch over the weekend and the subject of death came up. He started to say he's excited to go to heaven just not today but in the same breathe said he'd be happy to go today. I agreed and added that the only sad part about dying is that our loved ones are left to mourn.

Experiencing the death of our son has really taken the fear of death from us. I'm not sure what exactly causes that. Maybe it's that physical death could never be as painful as walking through that grief. Maybe it's the stark reality that when it's your time whether you're jumping out of a plane with no parachute or sleeping softly in your bed, you have to answer God's call. But whatever it is, by the grace of God, we have been able to turn the page and let the next chapter begin.

Are you stuck in grief? Or maybe life just hasn't gone how you pictured it would. You can turn the page! And you can write the next chapter however you choose! Choose joy! Choose Jesus! Let a new story begin!

"Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him."
Hebrews 9:27‭-‬28 NIV