Beauty in Death by Robin Densmore Fuson

 

Have you had to say goodbye to a loved one this last year? Can there possibly be beauty in death?

We think there is only ugliness in death.

God gave us a glimpse of beauty in death.

Leaves—those variable shades of green turn into brilliant colors as they start to wilt and eventually die, falling off the tree. No longer are they lovely and vibrant with life.

Butterflies—a worm underwent metamorphosis inside a cocoon to come out an amazing, lovely creature to generally only live a few days.

Flowering fruit trees—beautiful flowers die and fall off so the fruit can grow in its place.

There is no death in Heaven. Does that mean all the trees are continually green? There is no process of flowers giving up their life for fruit to grow? There are worms and no butterflies? Or did God make them born a worm and born a butterfly? Sometimes random thoughts like these, bombard my brain. We don’t know the answer to these questions. We only know what the Lord told us in the Bible and we hear stories of those who have had near-death experiences, and those don’t worry about a tree or a butterfly.

The leaf dies and falls off so another leaf can take its place. The fruit dies or is plucked off so the tree can start the process over again with the blooming of a flower.

We do know that death has to happen for new life to begin in Heaven.

If you have trusted the Lord as your Savior, you are His child. God looks at His child’s death as beautiful. After your body dies and you go to Heaven, you receive a new body. Your spirit never dies.

Unfortunately, 2021 has been another year packed with saying goodbye to loved ones. I have lost two uncles and an aunt on my mother’s side. I hurt for myself, my cousins, my mom, and the remaining spouse and sibling. Such devastation. My mom and dad had to travel seven hours over the mountains of Colorado on back-to-back weekends to attend memorial services.

I thank the God for those who decided to trust the Lord as their Savior because we will see them again!

So dear one, when we lose a loved one, remember their spirit is still alive and they get a new body and are reunited with the Lord. This should make us happy for them. Although we are terribly sad because they are no longer here with us, we can rejoice for them. We can look ahead to our reunion. We can be excited because they are not in pain. No sadness. Only unfathomable love and joy. 

For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when they are transformed, they will never die, and this Scripture will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (1Corinthians 15: 53-55)