The other day, my kids and I were on our way to town, I realized I forgot something, and decided to turn around. Where I turned just happened to be Lakeview Cemetery. As strange as it sounds, Lakeview is a beautiful place, so I decided to extend the turnaround and enjoy the view.
My son (4) was fascinated not by the view of Lake Bellaire, but by the tombstones.
'Daddy, what is this place?'
'This is a cemetery.'
'What is "senitary"?' he asked.
'A cemetery is the place where we bury people's bodies after they die.' I explained.
He was fascinated and concerned. He is a very sensitive and observant little thing and he tends to fixate on the morbid. In the past several weeks he has told his mother on occasion 'Mommy, I don't want to die.' So, I should have known that a graveyard detour would set his mind to whirling.
'What happens to people when they are buried in the ground, Daddy?'
'Well,' I slowly answered, trying to avoid any future zombie nightmares, 'some people believe that dead people's bodies stay in the ground until Jesus comes back and rescues everybody that has died. That is called the "Resurrection."'
DadFAIL! I basically taught him that Jesus was some great corpse thief.
'No more questions! Daddy is driving.'
Oh well.
The whole conversation did bring to mind a particular challenge to me: What do I believe about resurrection, death, and the fate of my loved ones - body and soul?
Some people believe in resurrection. Some people believe in reincarnation. Some people believe that death is a mere annihilation.
What do you believe? Is death the end of a chapter, or is it the end of a story?
Join us this Wednesday night at Short's Brewing Company in downtown Bellaire. We'll start a conversation about the hereafter at about 7pm. See you then!
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