Death in the Family Causes us to Think About Heaven

I had a death in the family this week. After all the losses I’ve experienced, each death just reminds me how short our time really is. Life is fleeting, a passing in the wind. My heart is saddened for those who were closest to him. My brother-in-law was too young to die.

Over the years, I’ve come to understand that grieving is accumulative. I think about my parents who are gone. I think about the grief over losing them all over again. When death hits so close to home we feel the brokenness of this world, it’s not supposed to be this way.

I read this poem today, the author is unknown.

“Grief never ends but it changes. 
It is a passage, not a place to stay.
The sense of loss must give way,  if we are to value the life that was lived.”

A life lost, a legacy left, and people hurt. When we lose our loved ones, we ache. We think about eternity. We wonder what they are experiencing. We think about what it might be like in heaven.

My faith is still strong. I do believe in heaven and when death comes to the front door, I think more about heaven.

I heard a song today. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” sung by the Hawaiian native, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.  The song is interspersed with “What a Wonderful World.”  It filled me with peace.

On this side of heaven, we wait. On this side of heaven, we grieve. On this side of heaven, we dream. For when it is our time to arrive in heaven, we will be home.  We’ll be reunited with our loved ones. We’ll find peace, and we’ll be on the other side of that rainbow in a wonderful world. Until that time, we will miss our loved ones and that huge gaping hole in our hearts will remain.

Death comes to everyone. All I can think of is will they be ready? We had a death in the family and our hearts are heavy. We want to grab on to some hope and let go of this pain.

I think of the words C.S. Lewis wrote in Four Loves:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”