9 – 29 – 17 “Love for life did not deter them from death.” (4 minutes)

Rv 12

“They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them."

“Love for life did not deter them from death.”

What, after all, is life without death? Well I suppose in the sense of eternal life it is an entirely different matter, but man born upon the earth is born to die. We all arrive there, assuredly, at the rate of sixty minutes an hour. We will die young or old, but what does old mean except to be near death (in our human experience)? One retort might be that old just means it’s been around a while, but for humans every year to have been is reducing the likelihood of being in future years.

It’s a bit of a tragic comedy watching mortal people attempt to immortalize themselves through their own actions. Even those who were most successful, consider Napoleon or Julius Caesar, are known by a smaller proportion of the population with each passing generation. To say that they are unknown is silly, I will not think to say that their memory does not live on. But the kind of grandeur they imagined is unattainable.

For when these kinds of people are really trying to live forever they are not meaning that they should be simply remembered, but that they still wield power in death. That, for example, decisions be made on behalf of their wishes even after their own friends and close relatives are dead and gone. They don’t wish to be recalled as a historical fact, but rather more like an omnipresent specter that forcefully suggests its will on others.

For something to be seen as a historical fact implies that it is no longer relevant because one must be able to make a detached study. These great men are boxed in, contained, and catalogued. They are a thing that has happened rather than a person still living.

I’m not sure what my original point was but I seem to have made a rather extreme digression. Let me attempt to gather my thoughts.

Love for life did not deter them from death.

There’s this idea here of fully accepting and nurturing a love for life, but in a way that does not create any fear of death. It reminds me of what my friend Daniel called an “Abraham moment.” When you give something up you really wanted, only to get something better by surprise.

I think God fully intended us to enjoy life. Otherwise I don’t see why he should have created a world so full of splendor and pleasure. Did you ever take a moment to consider all the amazing, exhilarating, delightful things one can do? Skydiving, drinking tea while reading a book or talking with a friend, or even just sitting down in silence after a long day/week/year/life are all provided to us because God loves us and wants us to be happy.

For us to not enjoy life is much worse than the little kid who doesn’t pretend to like the present his out-of-touch aunt got him. For not only is our present unique, it is also infinitely valuable. Objectively speaking, someone could not give you a better gift than life, as it is the only medium whereby we know how to receive pleasure and excitement. We have no other medium. So besides the origins of the food we eat and the drink we drink, it is not only that all good things come from God, but that we are only able to enjoy these gifts because of God. He is provider and teacher, he is spoonfeeding us gratification. We have no more ability to make ourselves happy than the caterpillar does to become a butterfly before his time. It is a change that occurs within us, but that doesn’t really mean it has anything to do with our own efforts.

But how can we fully enjoy life if we fear death? These positions, at first seeming quite complementary (if you love a thing you’d hate to lose it) and perhaps even necessary for each other, are actually diametrically opposed. How could we do anything like skydiving if we feared death? How could we ever do anything embarrassing if we were constantly considering our reputation after death? How could we ever make any unimportant decision with the knowledge that we will never get this moment back and this hour could be our last? That’s way too much pressure to be under to decide between Cocoa Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch! (The correct choice is CT Crunch for the record)

So inherent in loving life is this kind of carelessness. This balance between prudence and diligence and the simple-hearted presence of a child who appreciates the moment and the day that they are currently living. There is place for planning, but there is no place for worry. Throughout the Bible, every source extols us to quit worrying! Fear of death is merely the pinnacle of worry, and therefore if we’re going to dismantle that pyramid, we’ve got to start with the top block.