Why do we hate death?

Death isn't always an enemy. The death of a bad habit or an evil agenda or even a terrible person, like Adolf Hitler, is a good thing. For someone who is going to Heaven, death is a good thing. Heaven is a far better place than any experience we could have or any accompolishment we could make here on earth. Heaven is a place where there are no tears or pain, only love and joy. We should want this for our loved ones.

Maybe death isn't always an enemy. Perhpas the real sadness that comes from losing someone is the pain we feel for ourselves and not the person who is gone. We miss the place they held in our lives and what they brought to our days. When the young die, we mourn the dreams that they never lived and the accomplishments they never achieved. We mourn that they were not able to experience having a family of their own, having grandchildren and retiring. But if Heaven really is perfect, what could they really be missing by not being here? Maybe what we really mourn is that we didn't get to see them live out the dreams we saw for them and experience with them the joy of their achievements.

No one is guaranteed any number of days. Even the destiny of our own children is not ours to decide--it has already been decided. We are in each other's lives to love and sometimes that means letting go. God has a special purpose for every life He creates and it's not related to the number of days or even minutes that a person lives. That's why it's imporatnt to live everyday like it is your last--loving deeply, speaking truth, laughing, crying, showing anger at injustice; giving of yourself--your energy, time and talents; not allowing fear of failure to keep you from experiencing something new; not living for your own pleasure, but living to bring pleasure to another.

We will experience joy and peace in living this way because at the end of each day we will have done our best to make a lasting difference with whatever that day offered. We will have given love, inspired hope and opened doors for others to make a positive impact on lives they encounter along life's road. That's more what life on earth is all about.

Heaven is perfect and there is only happiness there. That's where our lives will truly begin. We will still experience pleasure and accomplishments in this life. We will still find enjoyment in things and relationships and this is as it should be. The beauty of God is not diminished by the pain of this world. But we will truly be able to enjoy the beauty of life when we live not for our own pleasure or gain, but to make a difference.

"If you build relationships based on what you can do for them, then you don't have to worry about anything for yourself. That stuff will take care of itself." ~Unknown

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds then. Ar eyou not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God lothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you...so do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?'...seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. " Matthew 6:25-33