10 For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Yesterday, I had the honor of speaking with my friend Betty about her late husband Ted for an upcoming radio program about his life. We began the show talking about Ted's last days, and Betty reminded me of something Ted would say about death -- that death strips us of the notion that anything can save us but God. In the end, neither our money, nor our political connection, nor even our health will save us; only God can save us.
To die then as Betty's husband Ted died -- with such serenity and trust -- is the ultimate act of faith. In the end, to die is to trust; and all our little acts of dying along the way are practice for the ultimate act of faith and trust we must all pass through when the time comes. Dying daily readies us to die finally.
At the funeral service of King Louis XIV of France the priest Jean-Baptiste Masillon began his sermon with a simple yet profoundly declarative sentence: "Only God is great." In the end, only God is great and nothing is going to save us except God. Death is the doorway into the truth of that ultimate reality, and the sooner we accept that there is nothing we can do to keep from having to walk through that doorway into the other side then the sooner we will learn to live with courage and generosity and peace on this side.
Only God can save us; and God will save us. And thank God we don't have to save ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment