Do you remember hearing stories of the dead brought back to life?
It sounded good to me.
Who doesn’t want another chance at life?
To see people, they love again?
Then I got a different perspective.
Imagine having another Chance?
When my step father got colon cancer and was dying, I drove across the country to be with him. Helping care for him and encourage him during his final days.
He was walking when I arrived. Super skinny but getting around.
Day by day he got weaker. His body shutting down.
He progressed to a cane. Then a wheelchair.
After about 2 months, he knew it was getting close and called the whole family in to gather around his hospital bed in the living room. He blessed us, asked for forgiveness for past wrongs, and told us good bye.
A day or two later he went into a coma.
Hospice told us that he would not come out of the coma. Slowly his body would shut down and he would die in a week or so.
We were pretty somber. We knew this day would come, but now it was here.
We tip-toed and spoke softly at first. Then we carried on at a normal sound level because hospice said it would comfort him to hear us.
After a few hours he woke up.
It was like a resurrection.
We were all so happy. Telling him hi. Asking if he needed anything.
But it became apparent he was not happy.
It felt strange. He had been so positive, kind, and full of love this whole time he had been slowly wasting away, but tonight he was in a downright bad mood.
I didn’t know what to think. I thought he would be happy to see us again.
My step dad asked a friend, who happened to be visiting, to wheel him into the next room. They talked for a while. My step father also answered some email.
He was calmer when he came back to bed.
In a quiet voice he told me what had happened.
“When I last closed my eyes,” he said, “I was prepared to die. I fully expected the next time I opened my eyes I would be before Jesus. And then I open my eyes and here I am. Still on earth. In my old body.”
I was quiet. This wasn’t what I had expected him to say.
“I didn’t really want to see this world again,” he continued. “It has no more appeal for me.”
I had noticed how as he got closer to death this world had weighed heavier on him. He saw sin more clearly and it bothered him. Old TV shows he had watched in the past, he now wanted turned off because he didn’t like the message they were portraying about life and people.
We had been in the store one day and the suggestive magazine covers had upset him. “Women don’t have to look like that to get approval,” he had said. “They are already loved.”
For him, the world had lost his glamor. It’s appeal. He saw it groaning for its creator’s return more fully than the rest of us.
He went to sleep again. This time he never woke up.
I imagine the great joy he experienced when he saw his Lord’s face.
Perspectives change.
When I was a teen, I hoped the end of the world would not arrive before I grew up and got married. I didn’t want to miss out on any of the good things in life or on things that others had already gotten to experience.
In my naivety, I wasn’t even sure heaven had anything over this beautiful world.
The years passed. I saw death. Trials hit me. Trials hit friends. Friends lost babies. Friends died. I heard about the news and sadness going on all over the world. Saw poverty. Read about heartbreak. Experienced heartbreak.
Over the years my prayer to stay in this world and enjoy all it has to offer has changed into “thy kingdom come.”
This world is such a mixture of good and bad. Sad and happy. Beautiful and ugly. Sin and goodness.
If I had died in my younger days, I would have had my hand raised and waving to be sent back to earth. Now I am not so sure. I see my step father’s perspective a little clearer.
Imagine being resurrected?
Experiences of life color our perspective.
It had been a hard week. One of crying with a friend over her tragic loss.
The pastor was talking about Peter bringing Tabitha, a woman who had a heart for helping the poor, back to life. “The verse mentions that her friends were over joyed when she was resurrected.”
“Imagine if you had been there, you would have been rejoicing too. Happy to see your friends again. Knowing the work, she had started, would be continued.”
“Can you imagine what Tabitha felt?” she pastor asked.
I thought about how my step dad felt when he awoke again.
“Disappointed,” I muttered. “Upset.”
“What?” my husband whispered. “What did you say?”
“Never mind,” I say.
But I wonder. Was she happy to be back? To Keep working? To return to this world and all her old problems?
Or was she secretly a little angry and wishing her friends had let her stay where she was? A much better place than here.
And what about all the people who came back to life after Jesus died? It talks about the tombs opening and saints returning.
Were they full of mixed emotions?
Some delighted and kissing the ground?
A few shaking their head and asking, “Why, oh why, did I have to return back here?”
I imagine one woman returning to her family and getting hugged by her little ones and kissed by her husband. She touches all their faces and smiles.
Shares a few laughs with her loved ones.
She looks around the house and with a sinking heart realizes nothing has been done since her absence a few weeks ago. Time to get to work, she sighs.
And then the littlest one pipes up. “Mom. What’s for dinner?”
Thanks for stopping by. Keep remembering what’s important.
Theresa
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Join the discussion: What would your thoughts be on returning to life?
May link up at Holley Gerth (#coffeeforyourheart), Lori Schumaker (#Moments of Hope), Crystal Storms (#HeartEncouragement), Arabah Joy (#Grace & Truth).
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Such a good perspective to have about life and death. We have no fear when death comes, for it ushers into the presence of our Lord. All else fades before the beauty and majesty of our heavenly home. I do enjoy my sojourn for now, and pray I can see my grandchildren secure and happy as they mature. For now, I want to fix my eyes on Jesus and enjoy each day in praise of the Lord. To be at peace and content with all that comes into life is truly unspeakable joy. This post was so applicable to living for the Lord!
Surely there is so much to enjoy and see on our sojourn here. So much to look forward to. I so agree with you. I want to keep living for the Lord. Yet still, when the time comes, I will not regret leaving this world, like I would have in my younger days. I know watching my step dad die, made me less afraid of dying and made me realize there is much more than just this temporary world I was hanging so tightly to.
I think we all might like to live life over with that what we know now wisdom, I see that point of view, but my personal experiences made me want to fight to live and walk closer in the Spirit. Maybe it is even stronger now that I have heard of so many suicides this past week including a pastor. Life is precious and we should want to breathe every particle of God’s love we can and drink the living water. may He fills us all to pour on others.
Oh, Rebecca, you are so right. Life is precious. So precious. And all the suicides are so tragic. Yes, let’s drink God’s love and pass it on to those around us.
Thanks, Teresa. There was another one last night on the prayer board, we were asked to pray for the truck diver, someone jumped in front of his semi. Condolences on your loss as well.
This is excellent. Paul said to die was gain. I have mused that when he saw his visions he had actually died during his stoning….generally that was the point of stoning, right? He said he did not know if he was in the body or out when he was caught up. I have been thinking about these things and was glued to your article from beginning to end.
Such an interesting point Sue. Another one of those questions we can ask when we join him.
Theresa, this is so vivid, both in your pictures and perspective. Experiences of life do color our perspective, and it’s interesting to see how much more in tune our hearts become with the gift of eternity.
I am with you, Crystal. If you would have told me this as a teen, I would have doubted you. Now I know it is true.
This is such an interesting question to think about. I guess once you’ve had a taste of heaven it must be hard to return to earth. It’s just hard to imagine when this life is all we know but it is amazing to have the hope that there is something so much better to come, and I think that hope does increase as you get older and see more of the brokenness of the world.
It is an interesting question and one I never would have thought about until the experience with my step dad. Maybe I am just quirky and over think things. I imagine Mary and Martha being overjoyed when Lazarus appeared among the living. But I now wonder what Lazarus thought.
Absolutely compelling. Thanks for sharing this story, I’ll be thinking on it all day. I appreciate your voice here on the web. Thank you. <3 AJ
Thanks, Arabah. Blessings on your ministry.
This is beautifully written and so filled with truth, Theresa. Thank you for sharing this personal story. I pray it brings hope and encouragement to many. It was a wonderful reminder for me this morning as well!
Hi Stacey! Thanks for your prayer.
Theresa … your words and pictures breathe life and hope. And yes, another chance. Thank you …
Thanks for your kind words, Linda. Your choice is noted.