Signs of Life in the Midst of Death

My grandmother is in the process of dying and some of our extended family gathered outside of Hospice this past weekend for a window visit. There she was frail, tiny, and barely communicative. It’s hard to witness death happening right before your eyes. While I’ve had two grandparents die, I never quite saw it this clearly.

Meanwhile, the little great granddaughter, about 18 months old, was as lively as could be outside with us in the sunshine under the blue skies. As I watched her bubbliness, and how she distracted us all with a little joy and some smiles in a sad moment, I couldn’t help but ponder that even in the face of death, God was showing us signs of life. 

I think that’s true of all death in our life -- even this COVID situation. If you look closely in times of death, there are signs of life peaking through. God is doing something new. Babies are still being born. Marriages are still happening. New relationships are surfacing. Joys are still present in our lives. Vaccines are saving lives. Opportunities for a deeper experience of life still persist. Look around you. There’s as much life there as death.

I think there’s a lesson for Lent in there. There’s dying. There’s rising. Death is never the end for believers. It’s always pointing to new life.