MY MOTHER’S PASSING

My mother was twelve years younger than my father.  Interestingly, she lived twelve years after he died and then followed him to the grave.  Both lived lives of nearly ninety years.  They both experienced many things in life; some good, some bad, some easy, some hard, some success, some failure, some wonderful health, some debilitating, but ultimately both encountered death.  How can one even begin to encapsulate a life of ninety years, or a life of any length for that matter?  Should the focus be only on a person’s best traits, ignoring weaknesses and faults?  Conversely, should good and positive things be ignored in order to emphasize only the weakness and frailty in a person’s life?  Does either approach do justice to a life?  And what remains of a life after death has taken its toll?  In the case of my mother and father, after nearly 32,850 days for each, what’s left?  Perhaps a house, furnishings, a little money, clothes, unused medicine, memories left for the survivors.  But what of relationships?  What of all one’s accomplishments?  Was it all wasted?  What is the point of it all?  Certainly the lives of my parents had meaning for me, otherwise I wouldn’t have been thrust into the circular pattern of birth, life, and death.  But did it have meaning for them?  Will mine have meaning for me?  Will yours have meaning for you?  Is there any purpose to life beyond existential necessity?  Are we but passengers aboard some galactic conveyance on a voyage toward oblivion?  If a life is merely measured by the acquisition of things or power or prestige, will it be classified as significant?  If so, how many lives among the billions will be classified as anything other than insignificant?  How can meaning and purpose for the vast bulk of humanity ever be divined if at the end of each individual journey only the darkness of death awaits?  Do we deceive ourselves by believing things that will lessen the pain of that reality?  Perhaps.  Have I ever encountered and conversed with a traveler who has returned to tell the tale of their journey from beyond the grave?  No.  But what if there was such a traveler?  What if someone returned to assure us that the portal of death did not lead to oblivion at all, but was actually a gateway to something far grander than any mortal could ever imagine?  Would that be news worthy of attention?  Would it be believed?  In fact, what if mortality isn’t the beginning of our lives?  What if we lived before mortal birth?  The belief that existence didn’t begin with mortality is not uncommon, nor is the belief that mortal life does not end with death.  Many believe life continues, though the perception of continued life varies widely.  Does it matter what one believes about death?  Does it matter if death’s door is an opening or a closing?  I believe it does.  If the door is closing and everything vanishes into nothingness, the rules for living life could very well be significantly different than if the door opens to new vistas of opportunity determined by choices made while mortal.  I believe the door swings wide open at death.  I believe there is more to do, to experience, to become on the other side of death’s door.  What if our choices and the way we live our life in mortality has an effect upon our circumstances in the next part of life?  What if premortal, mortal, and immortal life are all tied together, each with essential eternal significance?  What if these stages of life are part of a vast, grand plan, divinely appointed to give all of God’s children the opportunity to develop their full eternal potential?  If that was true wouldn’t it give meaning to every person’s life?  I believe Jesus Christ opened the door to the magnificent opportunities that await.  I believe His incomparable life, suffering, death, and resurrection gives meaning and hope to every mortal life.  Witnesses to His divine resurrection are many.  Indeed, He overcame the power of death and opened that door for all.  Our mortal experience is but a portion of our existence, but it is an extremely important part.  Deciding which way the door of death swings, while mortal, can be the most important choice a person ever makes because I believe our existence points to the existence of a loving Heavenly Father and His magnificent plan to lift all of His children.  That decision can make all the difference, not only here and now but into eternity as well.