WHEN LOVED ONES DIE, ARE MEMORIES ALL WE HAVE?
By; Joel Bjorling
(An inspired discourse from my journal.)


I was watching the tail end of an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The Starship team were viewing a posthumous "video" of a fellow warrior who had died. She said, "Death is the state where you live in the memories of others. No good-byes, just memories."
This seemed to be a typical, common approach to death--you have your memories, life goes on. There is no God, or Higher Being, involved. If we "live" IN memories, what happens to "us" when those having the memories are gone? If no one remembers us, then there are no memories, and hence, no life. Memories are no substitute for the Essence Of Life. Memories fade. Think of walking in a cemetary. People from years past, then, no longer exist since no one alive remembers them. To tell a bereaved family, "You have your memories," is totally inadequate. We may say "no good-byes," but "good memories" is only part of it. True, we have memories. They comfort us in our loss. I recall a seminary professor who said, "I'll live in my books." Someone said in response, "I'd rather be more than dust on a library shelf."
Memories depend on someone remembering.
To say we "live in memories is to assert that life is memory. Aren't we more than memory now? If we live in memories after death, what is the essence of life now? Is the Power which enables and sustains life mere memory? Doesn't it make sense that if we are an expression of a Higher Power now, we are STILL part of that Power after death?
This power formed us in the womb. It, then, transcends the body because it comes before it. Isn't that Power more than a memory, or more than an idea? It makes no sense to reduce life to memory. We do it because we do not believe that man is any more than a body, or a personality. We remember a person, yet we can't comprehend the tuth that a person is, in essence, a spirit, soul. We can't see and touch a person, but we can't see or touch a soul or spirit. We remember good times, laughs, smiles, warm moments, we reminisce and say, "I remember when..." But life is more than sensuality. We remember what we see, touch and feel, and, really, as far as we can see, it's all there is. When we can't see, touch, or feel something, it doesn't exist. We can REMEMBER it, or how we FELT about it. However, memories are not life. They cannot give or create life. They can bring a laugh or a sigh, but no genuine, conscious life.
If God exists, is not life from god? If God is eternal, so are we, as expressions of God. In light of this, how can we say to someone at the death of a loved one, "You have your memories"? To be sure, we should remember those who have gone before us. Pray for them. Love them. But they ARE spirit souls, expressions of God. They live in the realm of God. Does a "realm of God" exist? Can we believe that there is such a place? We weep for those who are "dead," yet if there is a "realm of God," why weep? Is the realm of God a place of sadness? Is it sad and depressing to be with God? The Bible says that in Him "is the fullness of joy.." Our idea of joy is physical gratification, good times, and fun. Life is not something that fades, yet memories fade. memories require someone to remember. If I exist as long as someone remembers me, then I perish if no one remembers.
The Bible said that Jesus came so that we would not PERISH, but have ETERNAL LIFE. Jesus taught that eternal life was our destiny, not perishing in nothingness. Eternal life is everlasting. Otherwise, it wouldn't be eternal! If God is the Source of Life, then life expresses His being, whether we're in the body, or apart from it. The body would not "life" without the Spirit, so the body isn't life or what actually "lives." Only Spirit is life. Only Spirit remains after the body is laid to rest. The body perishes, but not the soul. The soul IS real life. We must, therefore, affirm the truth of life, that it is eternal and everlasting. There are no "good-byes," but only "good-bye for now." We have more than "good memories," we have the truth and promise of eternal life. In this truth may we derive hope and comfort.

 

 

 

 

Return To Links Page