To me one of the saddest days of the year is the first day
of a killer frost. It brings with it not only the beginning of winter, but the
death of many beautiful summery plants.
Every year we plant a bunch of begonias in planters around
our back patio. And they are beautiful, full of life with many blossoms and
flowers and color, until the first frost.
While the begonias are fresh, full of life today, tomorrow
morning the beauty and color are gone, thanks to Jack Frost. The poor plants are
draped over the planters, limp and lifeless. Here today and gone tomorrow and yes,
life is over for the begonia.
I use the begonia as an analogy to life, our life. When the Angel
of death approaches us, the killer Frost has arrived. And just like the begonia, we don’t know when
our frost will strike, or our angel of death will appear.
We are reminded in Scripture that life is fleeting, and we don’t
know the day or the time when we will be called home, or when the second coming
of Jesus will arrive, but be assured, they will come. And from these readings we clearly see the
warning of readiness, an invitation to keep ourselves prepared for the moment
when we will be ushered in eternity.
Whether we meet Jesus when he calls us for our own personal judgment,
or at His second coming, whichever comes first, we are praying and hoping for
the mercy of Jesus. But our preparation begins every new day.
This vision in this beautiful reading of Daniel is a message
of hope and also a challenge for those who are undergoing great sorrow. They
are promised an enormous reward if they stay dedicated in their commitment to
God.
We can only imagine, the struggles of this life at the end
of the world culminating in a massive cosmic confrontation between the forces
of Good and the forces of evil, a battle universal in scope.
In the beginning of time as we know it, was the encounter
between chaos and God, with God bringing an orderly universe out of that
darkness and chaos. And from that darkness God created the world.
The entire universe will be involved, and at the end of time
evil will be completely destroyed and the reign of God will endure unchallenged
forever.
Today we struggle, but the struggle in this life is only
temporary and the consequence for the faithful will be incredible.
For when this mysterious figure approaching on the clouds,
the Son of Man comes in all his power and glory, he comes to gather us in, not
to scatter us.
Yes, we are living today, not reflecting that far into the
future, but do we know when Jesus will appear?
Do we know when that killer frost will come? Today
needs to be a time of waiting and watching. We must live today as if the angel
of death is approaching. We must live for the eternal banquet, for the meal
where desserts are never ending.
A woman told her husband
she wanted to be buried with her bible in her right hand and a fork in her left
hand. Naturally, this extraordinary request puzzled her husband, so his wife
exclaimed, she attended so many church functions and potluck dinners that after
the main dishes were served someone would always instruct you to “keep your
fork”.
Those words were the signal
that the best was yet to come – dessert.
So, she said “when people come up to you at the funeral and they ask,
why does she have a fork in her left hand, and you can simply explain”, “The
best is yet to come”.
St. Paul tells us that “death
does not have the final word”. If we
have lived a life pleasing to God, the best is yet to come.
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