I was diagnosed with ALS in November, shortly before Thanksgiving. About a week later I was sitting on the porch of my house watching the first snowfall of the season. As I sat there I was beginning to sink into that darkness. I was thinking that this would be my last winter. I was thinking that this would be my last Christmas. I was hoping to make it to spring! As I sat there depressed, I noticed a bird on the bush outside the window. As I sat there watching, it flew away, and I thought, "I wish I could be that bird." And I thought that the birds have no cares, no issues and no ALS. Then immediately I was drawn to the words of the writer of the Hebrew Scriptures:
"My heart is in anguish within me:
the terrors of death assail me.
Fear and trembling have beset me
Horror has overwhelmed me.
I said, "oh, that I had the wings of dove!
I would fly away and be at rest --
I would flee far away
And stay in the desert."
-- Psalms 55:4-7
This is exactly how I feel. I love the language -- anguish, terrors, fear, trembling and horror. I'm not afraid of being dead. It's getting dead that bothers me. For me, "getting dead" involves choices about wheelchairs, communication assistance, feeding tubes and breathing assistance. It's not pleasant when I think of the future. Of course, I try to ignore it but the underlying reality is always there. I think it bothered the writer of this prayer as well. In the face of death and dying, I would like to be a bird. I would like to get away from this situation. I would like to feel like I am free. This passage expresses my deepest feelings.
I am a follower of Jesus. And I am fully aware of what Jesus says about worry. (Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself," Matt. 5:34). Do you know how many people have come up to me and quoted this verse? Their attitude is that since Jesus said this, I should obey it. However, they have little to worry about. I am facing death and a life hereafter and I have a whole lot to worry about. This quotation comes from an extended passage in which Jesus deals with the subject of worry. In the middle of this section on worry, Jesus refers to the birds. "Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store in barns yet your heavenly father feeds them." So every time I see a bird, I am reminded that God takes care of them and if he takes care of them, he will take care of me. As I sit here writing, I am looking out the window and I see a bird. God takes care of that bird and ultimately the same God will take care of me. Of course, I'm not sure how God takes care of a bird. Neither am I sure of how God will take care of me. But since he takes care of the birds, I know he'll take care of me.
So every time I see a bird I have two options. First, I can want to be like the bird and fly away to be at rest. It's the longing to be set free from ALS. It's the longing to be set free from the terrors of death. Second, I can realize that God takes care of the birds and ultimately he will take care of me. Sometimes I go for option one. I long to live and be free. Other times I go for option two. I know God takes care of the birds and I know he will take care of me. My life is lived between these two options. On the one hand is the fear of death. And on the other hand the reality that God will see me through.
Everybody has something to worry about. It may not be ALS. So whatever you worry about, whenever you see a bird, remember that God will take care of you.
Rev. Dr. Martha R. Jacobs: Spiritually Seeking A Death Both 'Beautiful and Painful'
I found a new outlook on life by finding this community on Huff-Post. It allows me to annoy people all over the world, in the interests of stimulating them to think about what they believe, to challenge their assumptions. I find it stimulating and amusing. I can use my real name because I have nothing to fear, nothing to lose. The concerns of the living affect only the living. Having accepted death I count myself among the dead. I can look at the follies and passions of the living with amused detachment, look at their pains and sorrows with compassion.
May you and those you love find peace and comfort in the days to come.
Matthew 4:23
[ Jesus Heals a Great Multitude ] And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Matthew 4:22-24 (in Context) Matthew 4 (Whole Chapter)
Matthew 4:24
Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
Matthew 4:23-25 (in Context) Matthew 4 (Whole Chapter)
Matthew 8:14
[ Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed ] Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever.
Matthew 8:13-15 (in Context) Matthew 8 (Whole Chapter)
Matthew 8:16
[ Many Healed in the Evening ] When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
Matthew 8:15-17 (in Context) Matthew 8 (Whole Chapter)
Matthew 9:35
[ The Compassion of Jesus ] Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
my belief but only a belief is that we do reach a point of being one with the universe.
now before we do, there is a long journey yet ahead we might best call the evolution of consciousness process.
at this stage or phase of our consciousness development we are unable to merge with that that is. think of it as being spit right back out. ok not a good analogy.
we may have been a bird at one time as nature is an incubator for the evolution of consciousness process but we have evolved as humans into a unique identity and as a unique identity we as humans and indeed birds are expressions of that universe you write about.
lets hope the pastor does not take your words as truths and does his own reseach.
pastor look to neither the religious nor the materialist for evidence of what we will be after this physical life ends. one must do they own research as there is that much ignorance taught as truths out there in ego land. ie ego thing.
hint; you are a soul pastor and that soul lives on in a dimension depending on your level of consciousness dev. much evidence to support this but very very difficult to find. paradigm thing.
Now there is nothing wrong with that, but you may be missing out on a large part of wisdom and knowledge in this life by sacrificing critical thought for security.
Job likened death to a compulsary service, something he could not avoid, but then he was confident that relief would come. But when.? Jesus siad at John 3v13 "No man has ascended to heaven" At Acts 2v34 we read "Actually David did not ascend to the heavens,
So Job and the writer of psalm 55 David did not ascend to heaven but are still awaiting the resurrection. At Acts 24v15 Paul said "and I have hope toward God, which hope these [men] themselves also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
Yes the hope for the dead is a resurection back to the earth, at that time sickness and human problems will be no more. But what is the condition of the dead Eccl 9v5 answers "For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all,
you have taken to religion like a duck takes to water.
like a programmed robot that is what conditioned beliefs can do to the human mind.
this is an example of a lower level of consciousness development. now the good news consciousness expands in awareness and no one is left behind. some take longer than others of course. variation thing. relative phenomenal world thing.
When the time comes and it's down the rabbit hole of tubes, diapers, total reliance on others, it would be nice to have a choice of when you want to leave this world. It's one thing when you're healthy, but when the end is near, I'd rather have a self induced little push to get off this world. I've seen people die from respiratory failure and kidney failure, not to mention the costs involved for a few extra weeks of misery and pain, and it's not something anyone should have to go through in this day and age.
While out walking one morning, I saw a single golden leaf
Falling from a tree; slowly and silently it spiraled downward
To join the others that had fallen to the ground.
I felt a strange sadness at its falling; as if it were a young bird
That, having fallen from its nest, could never return,
And would never know the joys of singing or flying.
But then came the wind, gathering the leaves together,
Then lifting them up, into the clear morning air;
Where they turned and tumbled, soared high on new wings,
Then rocketed down and skimmed the ground like starlings in flight.
They seemed so joyous, so euphoric; like...like if they could
They would be singing; and maybe, in a beautiful voice
That can be heard only by leaves, they were.
Our lives also spiral downward, till we join with the others who have fallen.
We are filled with sorrow at the loss, but we know they do not abide alone,
They take our love with them where they go; and there is always the wind,
That gathers and lifts and gives wings to all things; there is always the wind
That blows where it will.
Peace be with you Pastor Dobson