Why are we so afraid when we think about
death? … Death is only dreadful for those who live in dread and fear of
it. Death is not wild and terrible, if
only we can be still and hold fast to God’s Word. Death is not bitter, if we have not become
bitter ourselves. Death is grace, the greatest gift of grace
that God gives to people who believe in him. Death is mild, death is sweet and gentle; it
beckons to us with heavenly power, if only we realize that it is the gateway to
our homeland, the tabernacle of joy, the everlasting kingdom of peace.
How do we know that dying is so
dreadful? Who knows whether, in our
human fear and anguish, we are only shivering and shuddering at the most
glorious, heavenly, blessed event in the world?
Death is hell and night and cold, if it is not transformed by our
faith. But that is just what is so
marvelous, that we can transform death.
--Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from
Prison
Note: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian and author of The Cost of Discipleship. He was arrested in 1943 for his very vocal opposition to Adolf Hitler's program of systematic genocide, and was executed on April 9, 1945, just 21 days before Hitler committed suicide. His Letters and Papers from Prison were published posthumously.
Image source: Fra Angelico, The Harrowing of Hell (1441-1442), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrowing_of_Hell#/media/File:Fra_Angelico_024.jpg
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