Reincarnation

In response to Charlie's comment on "Death & Resurrection":

I am, to an extent, "shooting from the hip" on this. Of course I must speak in generalities, just as your question does in assuming that non-Christians are terrified of death. I think I will propose two answers, but as to which is correct, if either are, might take some more thought.
(1) Scripture tells us that all men know God exists, and they understand in a dim sense their relationship to Him because of sin (the beach ball underwater analogy). The "un-believers" or "pagans" (as I was happy to see Bryan Clark refer to them in Sunday School) are those who live with a complete hatred towards God. It also seems to me that God gave us a sense of the eternal existence of our lives. It is typically the irrational and disregarded minds in society that believe existence ends at death, and they should be considered so (with the possible exception of our modern society, which parts of should probably be wholly disregarded). I would now put forth that all men know death will come, and that they will continue to exist in some form after death. Because of their knowledge of the existence of God, I also believe they know there will be some sort of judgment to come. Knowing they will face this judgment and be found guilty one day I believe is what terrifies them of death -- life is what keeps them from that judgment. Now, I might also say that due to the lies that sin repeatedly produces in our minds, that fear of death may be at different levels for different non-Christians. Funny though, I think it is some of the "best-behaved" non-Christians who have the least fear of death and the most deceptive hearts.
(2) This one may seem slightly more related to the original subject. The pattern of death and resurrection in our lives is one way that the gospel and Christianity are taught to us and lived out by us. As Christians, we daily experience the redemption we have in Jesus Christ; we have tangible forms already of the work God has begun in us, and these things encourage us to take hope for our salvation and redemption to be fully complete. In this way we anticipate death because of the gospel. A non-Christian has never experienced the redemption that is found in Christ, though the gospel is even worked out in their lives as they go through graduations, marriages, etc. The difference is that they never hear or see the message, though it is spoken to them, shown to them, and even lived out by them. We all know that life will not end at death, but as Christians we have hope in God's promises, we have hope in Christ. A non-Christian does not have this hope, so death will bring them into the unknown with only the lies of their heart to encourage them as the go. That would give me a fear of death also . . . and might make some sense of the term "passing away". "Passing away", with its usual connotation, seems to have a lonely, eternal goodbye sense to it.

Next question: Mourning? Well, this is a subject I still have a lot to learn about. It is obviously biblical, godly, and healthy to mourn the actual death of loved ones, but I believe it would carry over to these smaller "deaths" also, maybe. This subject still confuses me though. What I usually hear, and makes sense, is that we mourn death because "death" is "not the way it's supposed to be". We live in a world corrupted by sin and under God's curse, and death is a result of that, and for this we mourn over the state of corruption we have brought on ourselves. But we also mourn knowing full well that redemption for the world has already begun and will one day reach full completion in the coming of Christ. So here's where it gets tricky: Is the "death and resurrection" God brought Adam through to create Eve related to the same death that later ended Adam's life? This is tricky because one is pre-fall and one is post-fall. The first death seems to be God's way of choosing to do things apart from sin, though we know the second wasn't quite as ideal. I think the "maturing factor" has to play itself out somehow, but I am not sure how yet. One thing I will add to this though, is that maybe even more important is the celebrations that should accompany each of these deaths and resurrections. This is a little more easily seen I think.

Lastly, the first semi-rational descriptive word that came to mind for these phases or stages of death and resurrection in our lives is reincarnation. We are saying that we die in some particular way, and we are then brought back to life with some literal change from the previous life, some more mature form. Maybe James Jordan is really Buddhist underneath it all. Maybe Bozeman is taking its toll on me.

Please give me some input to work with on all this . . .

Motives

To those whom it may concern:

I thought I would try this out as a way to work my thoughts out so that I could possibly clear my head during the rest of my day, and thus I might be more useful to society. I entitled the site "A Sour Kraut" with the anticipation that my German background, Lutheran upbringing, and typically disgruntled state of mind would find it's way into most of my ramblings and ravings. I also assumed a quote from the blessed Saint Jerome would add the finishing touch for now.

Oddly enough, I also miss the humility I once received in conversation with some of my closer college friends, and I thought this might be a possible venue for us (Charlie and Derrick) to continue our discussions more regularly. I also believe in a few weeks I will be moved into my condo and my roommates will be demanding cable internet, so I will be more likely to write with some regularity from home instead of waiting for a Saturday morning in a coffee shop.

Death & Resurrection

I "listened" (story on tape) to "Anne of Green Gables" this weekend, and I must agree with Anne's comment that the first composition of our thoughts are always much more poetical and splendid than the second time we attempt to recall them. But I will still make that attempt now to follow up on my thoughts on the "walk back to Grandma's house".

I must first explain that my theme of "Death & Resurrection" finds its source in an essay written by James Jordan in which he explains a pattern, started at Creation, which continues on in all of our lives. It is a pattern of deaths and resurrections. We see it first when Adam is put into a "deep sleep" in order for a rib to be taken from his side to create Eve. A deeper look into this pattern shows God "maturing" his people till they reach a point where they must die and then be resurrected in a more fit state, so to speak. Adam was not fit by himself to carry out the tasks God had given him, and once he could realize this he reached a point of death, and then a resurrected state in which he now had a companion, a helpmate, Eve; two united as one and now capable of carrying out God's mandates. This continues and gets a little more complicated when the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil enters; but even here, in sin, we see a death and a newly resurrected state for both Adam and Eve.

This evening I was recognizing this pattern being played out again in a young girl's life as she graduated from high school. A particular way of life she has known died today, and so it must; but the completion of her education was the "tool" officially handed to her today to carry on (in her newly resurrected state) into a new way of life with new responsibilities. It will occur again at her college graduation, when she becomes married, and when she bears children. It happened when she learned to walk, when she began school, when she started driving, and many times in between.

I saw today that some of these deaths come inevitably, at exact times in our lives; others come in "God's time" as He matures us; and still others we seem to bring on ourselves through sin just as Adam did to himself. I seemed to be able to think of personal examples of all of these. So then I wonder why? Why is it like this? It seems to me that God (even before the fall) had intended to mature us from our original state. It also speaks the gospel to us by playing out smaller, everyday examples of God's salvific and sanctifying work in us through Jesus Christ. And, I believe, these events should increase our anticipation and hope for the death that will ultimately lead us into our glorified states and constant, intimate union with our Lord.

My First Post

My where technology has gone in our generation. I remember first trying out a "chat room" on the "internet" in high school and being blown away that such lines of communications existed. The initial excitement was a little intoxicating I think, and the inebriated state lasted a little longer than anticipated; not to mention, the "hangover" that followed. But here I am again, wowed by the fact that I can set up my own "blog" site in a few minutes. This time I venture forth with a mixture of reluctance and excitement and pray that lady wisdom will bless me along the way.

My first "post" on my own site. I am not sure it will be read by many if any at all. I was inspired to give it a try when a series of thoughts entered my head walking back to my grandmother's house after watching my cousin's high school graduation. I, as usual, thought, "I have to write this in an email and send it to someone." Then, of course, I spent a few minutes wondering which friend of mine must suffer through such a thing, when it dawned on me that I could try out this blogging thing, write my thoughts there, and find freedom from the guilt of forcing my mind-numbing ramblings on people I do honestly care about. So, if you are here, now, reading this, I want you to know that you proceed by your own volition and I will only be responsible to read what comments and complaints you may have for me. Peace be with you . . .