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Bring out your dead post. Bring out your dead.. My funeral is going to be a cremation and a barbecue. Go as cheap as possible for the burial/funeral and spend the insurance money on a friend's and family barbecue.
Then why do we rarely see this? And why do christians fight so hard for silly things, like keeping people alive on life support, like Terry Schiavo (more worms).
Logically, when a christian dies, family and friends should be jumping for joy. People should be smoking, drinking, eating cholesterol laden foods and driving without their seatbelts in an effort to cut their lives short. After all, the sooner you die, the sooner you get to heaven.
Yet at every funeral that I have attended, people with strong christian beliefs are just as saddened as non-believers.
Yep! I just can't understand why we ever find Christians in hospitals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caltovegas
My funeral is going to be a cremation and a barbecue. Go as cheap as possible for the burial/funeral and spend the insurance money on a friend's and family barbecue.
I've donated mine to medical science. After that I don't care what they do with it.
Logically, when a christian dies, family and friends should be jumping for joy. People should be smoking, drinking, eating cholesterol laden foods and driving without their seatbelts in an effort to cut their lives short. After all, the sooner you die, the sooner you get to heaven.
Yet at every funeral that I have attended, people with strong christian beliefs are just as saddened as non-believers.
Quite. They spend every day telling us how wonderful it is there and what joy there will be when they are there and yet, when they get the chance to go, they desperately cling to every means possible to stay here!!
I have a close friend who has a philosophy about that. He is 76, so he is getting "up there." he told me that he doesn't want any crying at his funeral, and "no funeral dirge music." He grew up with R&B, Motown, jazz, funk, doo-wop, whatever "black" music was hip at any given period, and that is what he wants at his funeral. He wants to be sent out with a big party, with everyone celebrating his life, not crying for themselves because he's not there in an earthly form.
Quite. They spend every day telling us how wonderful it is there and what joy there will be when they are there and yet, when they get the chance to go, they desperately cling to every means possible to stay here!!
I don't see why this should be confusing to anyone, nor can I imagine why anyone would rejoice at a funeral. After all, they are going to miss someone they love. But most of the funerals I've been to are pretty positive and uplifting experiences. If the deceased has suffered a lot as part of the dying process, it's also understandable that the survivors would feel as sense of relief that it's over. I don't think that just because a person is in no hurry to die that means he's afraid of death. It just means he will miss those he has spent his life loving. He would like to be able to continue to be a part of their lives. Personally, I don't think you're confused at all. I think you're just looking for another reason to pick on believers.
Quite. They spend every day telling us how wonderful it is there and what joy there will be when they are there and yet, when they get the chance to go, they desperately cling to every means possible to stay here!!
None of us know what is beyond death, Rafe, but I believe we are spiritual children in the process of maturing. We are heirs of God, as Paul states in Romans 8:14,
. . . For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now you have not received a spirit of bondage so as to be again in fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons . . . But if we are sons, we are heirs also; heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ.
In my Synthesis, I make the case that our thoughts are part of our embryonic "symphonies" of consciousness produced in a "chemical orchestra" made expressly to procreate God's consciousness (Agape Love). The key to life lies in learning to recognize and control the "conductor in charge" of your thoughts in different situations. The major task we all face at each stage of life is training ourselves to structure our thinking to accommodate the two potential "conductors in charge" of our psyche. We need to preference our embryo Spirit while placating our animal nature and needs.
But above all else, rather than stress over what the afterlife might hold, we must learn to make friends with each stage of life and enjoy it. We shouldn't fear middle age, old age or death any more than we should seek to speed up our access to adult privileges when we are youngsters. We all must learn how to let our embryo Spirit express its true nature by controlling our animal nature appropriately. Making the effort to learn to play beautiful, harmonizing "symphonies" of consciousness through our mental machinery can lead to "compositions" of our eternal Spirits that should delight us, as well as our Creator.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to hear our own "symphony" of consciousness until we are reborn. An embryo infant, no matter how matured, cannot see the outside world until it is removed from its mother's womb and given the traditional slap on the behind. When God slaps our metaphorical spiritual behind after death and we awaken in complete awareness, devoid of the encumbrances of the womb, the wondrous panorama of Infinity should be breathtaking.
On the other hand, awakening in miscarriage might be devastating! Every day, our continuing consciousness is adding new tones of varying character and quality to the continuing composition of our "symphony" of consciousness. We must be certain we are not relying on God to have a "tin ear."
Certainly, we grieve the loss of a loved one, but not like the world.
1 Thessalonians 4
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
As a veteran of dozens of funerals, I can say with some certainty: if you're not sure whether to rejoice or grieve, take your cue from the immediate family and close friends.
But what is most important to them is to see and feel and hear that others care.
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