Death, A Litany

Death, a Litany (Death, oh Death where is thy sting)

-- although not a direct quote, it was suggested that I note the genesis of this title, i.e.,I Cor. 15:55

I have recently been confronted with the death of a cousin, the death of a childhood friend, and the death of a friend’s husband’s mother.

I have had to sit and remember the old childhood saying that death comes in threes, and surely the past few days have proven that saying to be right.

I have lived in fear of death knocking on my best cousin’s door, my brother’s door, and my best friend’s door for more than a year.  They are all very sick, but thank God they are still here.

I have wondered why death is so much a part of living, and life, and our very existence, and today I still have no answers.

I have a great fear and respect for death because one, I want to live forever, and two, it has no respect of person, and takes friends, family and enemies irrespective of their circumstances.

I have seen death take the newborn, the teenager, the young adult, the mature adult, and the very old.  Death has taken the sick and the healthy; the pretty and the ugly; the rich and the poor.  Death does not discriminate.

I have come to grips with death in some small way since the passing of my Mother, but death is no friend of mine.

I have cried often in private about the death of many, the innocent, the guilty, the solders, the children, the homeless, and the sick, but my tears have not changed their dying.

I have prayed and prayed and prayed, but death has continued to come to knock on my door, expectedly and expectantly.

I have accepted the fact that one day, I, too, must die, and death will come and knock on my door, and I hope that I am so ready that I hand death my ticket and leave this earth with a smile.

I have come to say, death, oh death, where is thy sting, where oh where is thy victory, when I am gone, I will have left this earth to meet the king!