In the song Are You Lonesome Tonight?, popularized by Elvis Presley, there are these lines:
But I'd rather go on hearing your lies
Than go on living without you
Upon recently hearing these words it occurred to me that they aptly describe where many of us are at in our relationship with religion, particularly with regard to what the tradition informs us about death. I have openly admitted that I do not know what death is like. In the most primitive sense, it may be like nothing because it is nothing. But for us creatures that have an insatiable curiosity about the unknown, it is more palatable to fabricate some sort of explanation than to endure the anxiety of not knowing. During my years in the active ministry I conducted a number of funerals, and was only told once by the family of a victim of a tragic accident that my words provided no consolation or comfort. That objection was to my failure to offer a concrete depiction of how the deceased was going to heaven to spend eternity with Jesus. I found this exception to be notable because never have I ever offered such assurances formally or informally. This notion of the “pearly gates” cannot be found in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, only in the religious traditions that have grown out of the Pauline doctrine of resurrection. While the comfort they offer is understandable, a responsible preparation for one’s own death requires that we examine the “lies” we have heard, and whether to go on living with them is truly the way of the Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment