Is Death Life's Greatest Mystery?

And since we have been

but a hair's breadth from death since birth.

teach us, O God, how breathlessly close we

are to life -- the life in all its fullness

which Christ alone can give. 

                   United Church Service Book 

Is death life's greatest mystery?  An exhibition developed by the Field Museum in Chicago and now at the Royal Ontario Museum explores that question and it's our intention to make a visit.

 As Christians we affirm that this life is not the end and that through the power of Christ's resurrection we will have the promise of eternal life. But this isn't some happy-clappy slam dunk which overcomes the profound mystery of dying and death or gives us a blueprint for the life to come. Okay, I realize that I tossed a bunch of metaphors into one sentence but you get what I mean. 

As a pastor and family member I have been at the bedside of a number of people as they took their last breaths, including my beloved mother. Those experiences were a privilege and awesome in the deepest sense of that word. I did my best to avoid "he/she/they is in a better place" platitudes even when the person who died was someone of resurrection hope. 

In most instances I invited those who were in the room into prayer as we commended the person into the care and keeping of a loving God. One year on my birthday I made an early morning visit to an elderly parishioner and watched her slip away with a nurse on the other side of the hospital bed. I'd never seen the nurse before yet we shared an intimacy and solemnity in that moment. 

While I am a Christan and have included the prayer above in services hundreds of times I look forward to seeing how other cultures and religions have addressed death's mystery and to learn from them. 

                                                                      Image from the ROM exhibition 

Here is the description of the ROM exhibition and a link: 

  Prepare to meet death, in its many forms, and celebrate the ways in which life endures in Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery. Opening at ROM on October 28, 2023, and continuing until April 7, 2024, this exhibition is organized by the Field Museum and made possible by Lilly Endowment Inc. Within, visitors are asked the big questions about death and life that we are all destined to face: What is death? Do I have to die?  What will happen to my body? What will happen to my spirit? How will my death affect others?

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/exhibitions-galleries/exhibitions/death-lifes-greatest-mystery

1 Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;

the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;

when other helpers fail, and comforts flee,

help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;

earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;

change and decay in all around I see;

O Christ, who changes not, abide with me.

4 I have no fear with you at hand to bless;

ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;

where is death's sting? Where, grave, your victory?

I triumph still, if you abide with me.