When the Obvious Isn't

Eyeglasses were used for four centuries before 1730, when a London optician named Edward Scarlett thought of anchoring them to the ears. Obviously, we're often slow to see the obvious.

One of the most obvious things that fail to be consistently obvious to most people is the simple fact that we all have to die sometime - except persons alive at the time of Jesus' second coming; they'll be instantly "reconfigured" (see 1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

Of course, the nearly universal law of death is obvious at funerals; all mourners probably wonder when they'll be "coffined" by the undertaker. But such mortality-awareness soon fades. If the almost universal law of death is so obvious, why doesn't it appear consistently obvious to us? Why doesn't that truth impact our every interest and decision in our daily life?

This need not be a morbid preoccupation with death, like a suicidal depression, but rather a joyful expectation: "My heart is glad and my tongue rejoices...because you will not abandon me to the grave" (Ps 16:9-10). An authentic Christian death-wish desires not escapism but fulfillment, as expressed by Paul: "I desire to depart and be with Christ" (Phil 1:23).

For the truly repentant person, falling in death can be beautiful...it's just falling into the arms of a loving God.

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net