Mortal Beings
Sometimes we need a reminder that we are mortal.
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. - John 12:24
Today's Gospel reading may be familiar to all of us. If we have ever attended a funeral, chances are we have heard this reading form John's Gospel, reminding us that we are like grains of wheat.
He tells us that we should not fall in love with this life, for this is temporary. What is permanent lies beyond, when the grain is planted and grows.
John tells us that Jesus promises to draw all people to him when he rises in heaven. That's a wonderful thought, but it is really beyond our ability to understand. We have not seen heaven and find it hard to imagine what it is like.
So we doubt.
We see what is real in this world and we experience the loss of those who die, and we fear death. We don't want to lose this life. We want it to be full and long.
Last summer my grandson participated in Greenwich-Stamford's Swim Across America to Fight Cancer. The swimmers raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for gene therapy to help battle the disease.
This past week, one of the young men they were swimming for died.
It is hard when anyone dies, but to lose someone so young to such a deadly disease is brutal. But the work of fighting for life is worth doing. Regardless of the joy we will encounter in the life with Christ after our death, we must do all we can in this life to help others live fully.
I believe that. Jesus' message of not holding onto this life is one of hope, not despair. We need to put our faith in him, knowing we will be all right in the end, no matter what pain we endure now.
The swimmers will continue to work for a cure, to fight for life, and with our help they will succeed.
Some day all young men and women who battle cancer will survive and live a full life. And all of us will rejoice, knowing we have made a difference.
Let us choose to bear good fruit in this life as well as in the next. Let us do that for all who have died and so more will live.
More to come...