Life Goes On

This is the unfortunate fact about everything that happens on earth:

the same fate awaits everyone.

In addition to this, the hearts of all people are full of evil,

and there is folly in their hearts during their lives – then they die.

(Ecclesiastes 9:3)

On June 14, 2008, in New York City, Tim Russert, age 58, NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ host died suddenly of a heart attack. With his plain-spoken explanations and hard-hitting questions, Mr. Russert played an increasingly outsized role in the US news media’s coverage of politics. The elegantly simple white memo board he used on election night in 2000 to explain the deadlock in the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore  — “Florida, Florida, Florida,” he had scribbled, in red marker — became an enduring image in the history of American television coverage of the road to the White House. He had a gift for making the most complex political machinations understanding and compelling.

Even while living thousands of miles away in Europe, occasionally I would catch a glimpse of Meet the Press and think “Tim Russert keeps pressing politicians until he gets an answer to his hard-hitting questions. He brings pertinent historical information to current events to enlighten, expose and to teach in simply profound ways.”

Not too long before this day in June of 2008, in sort of random fashion I had read Russert’s books “Big Russ and Me: Father and Son -Lessons of Life” and “Wisdom of our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons”. I felt as if I had entered into his life and had learned to appreciate him even more. When I heard the news of his sudden death, like so many others, it was a bit shocking and seemed untimely to me. And while NBC and affiliates dedicated time to speak well of Russert and to mourn his passing, within a relatively short period of time, they replaced him, and life marched on.

The point of this post is not to eulogize Tim Russert or anyone in particular, but perhaps to eulogize any and every human being. I have been thinking about this for some time now. There is a reality illustrated in the example of Russert’s death that is tough to accept and yet is one that dates back well before my time, and will no doubt continue to impact people long after I am dead and gone. That is, people are born, they live, they die, and life goes on. It is as if people’s deaths make a gapping hole in the earth that those around them see, feel and regret. Yet, it is as if the hole swallows the deceased and within a relatively short period of time the hole disappears, and life goes on. Someone takes their place. Our memories tend to fade (depending on the closeness of the relationship with the deceased person). It seems as if the way to deal with the loss is to forget and to move on with life. With exceptions of course, too many times people are forgotten in the lesser scheme of things in life. Again, we tend to remember those closest to us, and perhaps we will remember those whose lives made some type of an impact on our world as we know it.

In the Spanish culture of yesteryear, many people, especially women, wore only black-colored clothing for an undetermined period of time following the death of loved ones. It was the culturally appropriate time of mourning. The older they became, the more they only dressed in black, obviously because more and more loved ones would die, and this would happen more frequently, leaving little time between deaths. Eventually, it seems as though their entire wardrobe would be black-colored clothing. Perhaps this was a way to remember or a way not to forget. And, perhaps it was a way to remind them of their own mortality. I guess we all are forced to think about our own mortality when someone closes to us dies.

In my case, the older I get, the more I think about it. And the more I see it, the more it impacts my thinking about life. Sure, it is because I see and feel my mortality more at 55 than I did at 25 or 35. And honestly, I do not want to be morbid or gloomy, because the thought of death doesn’t really scare me (any more), but it does cause me to pause and think.

So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

There exhortation in Psalm 90:12 is important, regardless who we are, where we live, in what era we live, or what we do during the period of time we call life. I’ll admit that the thought that “life goes on” regardless what happens to the actors in it, when isolated and without another perspective, is sad and frustrating for me. I think that is one of the reasons that Solomon’s writings in Ecclesiastes have always been among my favorite in the Bible. I think he was feeling a similar frustration with what he saw as the folly of life. He started his treatise by using the words “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Shakespeare picked up on this perspective of life when he created the character of Hamlet with his “vexation of spirit.” The events that befell him, with surprising regularity, paralleled Ecclesiastes.

So, what is a different perspective that helps to alleviate the sadness and frustration that come with the reality of life goes on? I return to well-known passages from Ecclesiastes.

To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to rend, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time of war, and a time of peace.

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

As I read Solomon’s words, they can produce contentment or sadness. When I view them with only a perspective under the sun (only from a human and earthly perspective) they produce sadness. When I add a perspective from above the sun (from God’s perspective) they give meaning to our human existence. Our joys and our sadness are part of a larger plan. Honestly, if this were not true, as the Apostle Paul said, “we are a miserable people.” I do not pretend to have it all together, to never feel sadness, or to have crystal clear answers for all of life’s paradoxes. But, at the same time Truth can be liberating, giving a different perspective that results in clarity in what otherwise may seem like a foggy existence.

Again, I observed this on the earth:

The race is not always won by the swiftest,
the battle is not always won by the strongest;
prosperity does not always belong to those who are the wisest,
wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning,
nor does success always come to those with the most knowledge –
for time and chance may overcome them all.

(Ecclesiastes 9:11)

Sitting in a shopping mall or on a busy street, I often wonder how others cope with life’s perplexing questions? What is going on in their minds as they experience similar realities?

Today I watched in silence as people passed me by,
And I strained to see if there was something hidden in their eyes;
But they all looked at me as if to say
Life just goes on.

The old familiar story told in different ways,
Make the most of your own journey from the cradle to the grave;
Dream your dreams tomorrow because today
Life must go on.

But there’s more to this life than living and dying,
More than just trying to make it through the day;
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see,
And there’s more than this life alone can be.

(Stephen Curtis Chapman, More to This Life)

What I don’t understand, my faith in God helps me to accept. While everything doesn’t always make sense, I choose to believe His words about who I am and why I am here on earth. In essence, He reveals that there is more to this life than living and dying, more than just trying to make it through the day, more than our eyes can see, more than life alone can be. He is my hope, my comfort, and my encouragement when what I see appears to be that simply life goes on. This different perspective (from above the sun) helps me to view life under the sun with new vigor, feeling less vain about simply enjoying the most basic of blessings. I think that is precisely how Solomon ended up viewing what he saw before as the vanity of life as the joy of life.

Enjoy life with your beloved wife

during all the days of your fleeting life

that God has given you on earth

during all your fleeting days;

for that is your reward in life

and in your burdensome work on earth.

Whatever you find to do with your hands,

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave,

the place where you will eventually go.

(Ecclesiastes 9:9-10)

Is the death of person a sad end for them and for everyone else left on earth life goes on? Or, is there more to our existence? Is there much more that gives meaning to the few short years that we live on earth? From a merely human perspective, life does go on, at least for awhile for others on earth. But, it is obvious that Solomon (like so many more people before and after him) came to the conclusion that there is much more to life. How we live our lives, however insignificant we may feel or be in other’s view, is what is makes our existence meaningful in God’s perspective. Ultimately, it must be what makes it significant for us.

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.

(Ecclesiastes 12:13)

And finally, there is the opportunity to LIVE FOREVER with God. Jesus Christ said it very matter-of-factly:

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever.

(John 6:51)

Jesus was speaking to people still alive on earth. He was referring to what happens when they die -real life just begins after what we see as human death, and this new life goes on forever, without sadly excluding those who know Christ. Life is a precursor to eternal life. So, how we live our lives is not only eternally significant, the eternal perspective reveals that it is important and meaningful, no matter how long or how short of time we have on earth. I must remember that every time someone dies. What may seem sad and frustrating from an earthly perspective is a way mortals attempt to deal with the immortal.

I think it will be helpful to view the perspective of how life goes on (on earth) from the other side of death. Some critics say this hope that I hold dear is just a way to deal with death, and that regardless what the Bible teaches, death ends our existence. If that is true, I really don’t see how I am any worse off than the critics. If what the Bible teaches about eternal life is true, I really don’t see how it could be much worse for the naysayers. Because according to the Bible, life really does go on, but in a better place and in a much better way. How could I dread that? How can I not long for it?

Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written* will happen,
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

(1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

*He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.

(Isaiah 25:8)

I return to and end this post with the final words of the Stephen Curtis Chapman song More to This Life.

So where do we start to find every part
Of what makes this life complete;
If we turn our eyes to Jesus we’ll find
Life’s true beginning is there at the cross where He died.

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