What keeps us, of course, from being better prepared for death is our fear of death. The speaker, who was there to talk about Alzheimer s and other health-related issues, spent a good bit of time on death, and he asked the group to talk about their fears. I learned so much by just listening to what this group of seasoned elders had to say. Those seem to be the other two biggies. Death, therefore is not a taker away of meaning, but in fact, a giver of meaning.
Death is the marking line drawn between the divine and human.
Death is that which sets us apart from God, and makes us different from God. Rather than avoid those reminders of your limited existence, embrace them little by little, one by one, when they come your way. For example, go to funerals. The next time someone you know dies, rather than thinking of all the reasons you can t go to the funeral, make time to go. James Van Tholen is a pastor of the Christian reformed Church in Rochester New York, who was stricken by cancer in 1998, at the age of 33.