What Happens To Us When We Die?

The Apostle Paul says these words in II Corinthians 5:8:" . . . absent from the body . . . present with the Lord."

As we grow older, most people throughout the world begin to seriously reflect on what they have or haven't done with their lives. They think of many things, but one thought everyone has in common in this:  "What is going to happen to me when I die?"  Physicists have demonstrated that when a human being dies, an energy force leaves the body.  That energy force can be measured but scientists do not know where it goes.  Energy cannot be destroyed so it remains a mystery in the scientific world.  As Christians, we believe that energy force that leaves the body is our soul or spirit.

As Christians, we are responsible for what we know, and the Lord tells us that we are to be obedient to His Word; however, we are not to judge others, as seen in Matthew 7:1, "Judge not, that you be not judged."  We do not know what is in another person's heart.  Consider the following question:

Who was the first person to go to heaven according to the New Testament?  

The thief on the cross is the answer.  It was a criminal.  Heaven is not for everyone, and this criminal suddenly discovered the truth about why Christ died on the cross.  He saw the reality of what was unfolding before his eyes, being in the very presence of the One who held the keys to life ever lasting.  At that moment, the criminal made a confession of faith.  There were two criminals being crucified with Christ.  One on His left and one on his right.  One criminal shouted, "If you are the Christ, save Yourself and us."  The "thief" rebuked him and said, "Do you not even fear God . . . we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."  The he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."

The thief on the cross made a confession of faith.  He called Jesus Lord, repented of his sins, and asked to follow Him.  Jesus saw the man's heart and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."  

There is only one message about this story.  God loves you and Christ died to forgive you of your sins and provide a place in heaven if you will accept it as a free gift.  That is the only message there is.  We will spend eternity in heaven with God for one reason and one reason only.  It will not be because we were good, bad or indifferent.  It will happen because we put our trust in Jesus Christ, and Him alone, for our salvation. 

When a Child Dies

One of the most difficult things in life to deal with is the death of a child.  In the Oscar-winning film “Roma,” the most gut wrenching moment takes place in a Mexico city hospital room when a doctor walks in and says to a frightened young woman, “Your baby was born dead,” and then walks away.  That haunting scene, which took place in 1971, graphically illustrates a situation that is still poorly understood and often times avoided.  

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a stillbirth is the death or loss of a baby before or during delivery.  A miscarriage is defined as the loss of a baby before the 20th week of pregnancy, whereas a stillbirth is the loss of a baby after 20 weeks of pregnancy.  Stillbirth affects about 1% of all pregnancies, and each year about 24,000 babies are stillborn in the United States.  According to the Mayo Clinic, the rate of miscarriage is 10-20% of all known pregnancies.  It is difficult to get a more precise number because many miscarriages occur so early in pregnancy that a woman may not even know she is pregnant.  

In either case, the loss of a child is emotionally devastating.  Emotional healing is going to take longer than physical healing.  It is a heart-wrenching loss that others around you may not fully understand and in some cases, may try to avoid discussing.  Your emotions may range from anger and guilt to despair.  You will never forget your hopes and dreams surrounding your pregnancy; however, discussing it with an experienced and well trained professional or seeking a group experience such as Compassionate Friends, will help ease the pain until a certain level of acceptance is obtained.  The Bible can also be a source of hope.

The death of David’s son, as seen in II Samuel 12:15-23, may give you some hope.  David was a “man after God’s own heart.”  God loved David deeply; however, David had an affair with Bathsheba.  After his child was born, it became ill.  The Bible tells us that David then fasted and lay all night on the ground.  For seven days he pleaded with God to save his child.  Some of his friends went to David and tried to get him to get up from the ground and eat.  But he would not do it nor would he eat.  On the 7th day, the child died.  His servants were afraid to tell David for fear he might hurt himself.  David heard his servants whispering, and asked, “Is the child dead?”  They told him the child was dead.  At that point, David stood up, changed his clothes, went into his house and asked for food to be served, and he ate.  The servants were shocked by his behavior and said, “What is this that you have done?  You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”  David then said these words to his servants, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’  “But now he is dead; why should I fast?  Can I bring him back again?  I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

What David is saying is that his child will not return to him while he is alive on earth, but that he will see his child again in heaven.  May this provide some comfort, because all children will be in heaven, and you will see your child again.  

Facing Our Fears

Max Lucado recently shared a frightening moment in his life in which, like so many of us, he developed the beginning of a physical problem he just didn’t want to face. He related that ten years ago he noticed what looked and felt like a tremor in his thumb which started quivering mysteriously. He revealed that his father died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, aka, Lou Gehrig’s Disease which is a progressive degeneration of nerve cells that control motor movement and ends in death) and he assumed the worse. Did he inherit the same horribly slow death as his father?

Max said his golf game suffered because of the tremor and, “If I raised my left hand to make a point in a sermon, all I could see was a twitchy thumb.” He remembered one of the last messages he received from his father was, “I have no fear of death or eternity.” He thought to himself why he didn’t have that same faith. After all, he was a minister who preached to others that the Lord is with you. Yet, he was too afraid of going to the doctor for fear that he would be told that he would die. It was just too scary. However, enough was enough and he summoned all the courage he could muster an went to the doctor who checked him out thoroughly, from his walk and his reflexes to his balance. When the doctor finished the examination, Max was almost overcome while waiting for the doctor to, “deliver the death sentence.” Finally, the doctor said, “No need to worry. You’re okay. The tremor in your thumb is nothing to worry about. I promise.”

Last winter I developed a bad cold and had trouble breathing. I went to Urgent Care and the doctor wrote out a prescription for medicine. She noticed that I was behaving rather strange and I told her my father had died of lung cancer. She said, “Do you want a chest x-ray?” I didn’t know what to say at first and almost said no but stopped myself and said, “Yes. But if it is bad - don’t tell me.” She had the nurse escort me back to the x-ray department and then back to the waiting room. When I was told that the X-ray was clear. I said, “Really. Promise? Not just saying that?” She nodded yes.

Only a doctor would be able to convince me I was not going to die like my father. So it is with the promises of God. Unlike Max’s thumb and my coughing, the promises of God are undeniable and unbroken. What I learned from my experience is that with the promises of God, we must face our fears in life. Whatever those fears may be. We all know those who have waited too long to face their fear and it was too late for them. God wants us to be at peace and come to him with our fears and He will give us the comfort that only God can give us. To God be all the glory. Amen and amen.

New Year 2019

The New Year is here.  What will 2019 bring?  Will you have any control over what is going to happen to you?  Will you make any changes, or will the years keep rolling along?  For young people, the new year represents continued growth in practically every avenue.  However, that is not necessarily true for older people.  Therefore, I would like to address this month’s column to the more mature among us.  Those approaching, or who are in retirement.  The great philosopher, Clint Eastwood, has these words for us:  “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

For most of our adult lives, especially for men, we are defined by what we do and how we did it.  There was typically a clear purpose involving being a provider and taking care of the family.  For women, her role as mother was also typically defined as a homemaker, and sometimes being a financial provider as well.  (Today those models are rapidly changing for younger generations.)  

For both men and women, after retirement, comes the question, “What do I do with the rest of my life?  Life expectancy is now greater than ever expected.  It is not unusual anymore for people to live to 100.  So, how do you approach this new chapter in your life?  The emotional component of change is now real.  You will now be challenged to develop a new purpose in your life.  People who have a sense of purpose live longer than those who don’t.  In a recent study involving 136,000 people, with an average age of 67, evaluating the relationship between having a purpose in life and the risk of death or cardiovascular disease, were followed for seven years.   The risk of death was 20% lower for those who had a clear sense of purpose.  They also had a lower risk of heart attack or stroke.  

So, how do you develop a new purpose in life?  First, realize that a new life purpose is about pursuing goals and interests, and hopefully an opportunity for adventure and discovery.  Here are a few ideas to explore.  Look back at the things you used to be interested in during your younger years.  What did you enjoy doing then?  Perhaps learning a new musical instrument, going to college, volunteering, learning new skills like public speaking, cooking, or small engine repair.  Whatever it is, pursue it with focus and passion.  

Breathe Properly To Stay Calm and Deadly Focused

Proper breathing will put your body in harmony, increasing blood flow and also serotonin and dopamine levels.  To slow down and control the chatter in your head, repeat a mantra, e.g., I say the word, “steady” in competition pistol shooting when I must remain totally focused and calm.  

Let’s begin:

Start by taking a deep breath into your nose.  Focus on breathing into your stomach.  Then exhale all of the oxygen out of your body.  Do this two or three times to prepare yourself.

Now, focus on breathing in deeply for four seconds, and hold for four seconds.  Then breathe out for four seconds and hold for four seconds.

Do this several times or until you feel your body is in harmony again. Your lungs, the hemispheres of your brain, your entire body must be in harmony to function properly.  This will reboot your system to achieve that harmony.

Do not let the simplicity of this breathing exercise fool you.  The reason is based on Nobel Prize winning research.  When you breathe into your nose you are increasing the nitric oxide levels in your blood stream.  Basically, it increases your blood flow and lowers your blood pressure.  

You can even make it better if you wish by humming when you are exhaling.  Humming oscillates the air while you are breathing which greatly increases the level of nitric oxide levels into your blood stream.  

Note:  Dr. Louis J. Ignarro won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1998 for the discovery of the importance of nitric oxide to the cardiovascular system for increasing blood flow.  He is also considered the Father of Viagra.  

Accepting The Gift

I will always remember the day that three distant cousins of Reva came to say their last goodby’s.  It was a sunny day in July of 2014.  I had never met them before.  When they rang the door bell, I invited them in and they hugged Reva.  I could see the shocked look on each face as they saw how very thin she now was.  Reva had been giving family members special gifts as they came by.  It made her happy during her last days.  When they were getting ready to leave, Reva said, “I have something special for you to have.”  She wasn’t able to move from her cushioned chair  and said, “Allen.  Will you bring those three angel vases to me.”  These were three of her favorite vases.  I gathered them up and gently gave them to her.  I could see she was excited to give each of them a present.  

But then the unexpected happened.  As she painfully reached out to give the angels to them, the oldest cousin looked at them and said, “Oh no, that’s okay Reva.  We really don’t need them.  Give them to someone else.”

I ushered them out the door as they said their hurried goodby’s.  I looked at Reva, and she had tears rolling down her cheeks.  Until that very moment, I had never seen her cry all the time she was in hospice care.

This Christmas Season, it is a wonderful thing to give gifts to loved ones.  However, it is also a time to receive gifts, no matter what.  Whether it is a little clay object of some sort made by a child’s hands, an expensive gift, or even a joke you’ve heard a hundred times.  The material price of a gift, be it simple or elaborate, still comes from another person’s heart.  When you accept it, it symbolizes you accept them.  May you accept the gift of Jesus Christ this Christmas Season.  God has given you His greatest gift.  

Back from a near fatal anaphylactic attack

On January 6, 2017,  I experienced an almost fatal anaphylactic episode.  It was an uneventful day and nothing out of the ordinary.  I had celebrated my birthday the day before and looked forward to a great year.  Around 10:30, I began to itch around my lower back.  I didn't think much about it until I  began having a little trouble breathing.  Within minutes I began itching around my stomach area.  I went into the bathroom and took off my shirt.  I looked in the mirror and saw what appeared to be welts.  Several around my stomach about the size of a candy bar, reddish, swollen and slowly growing.  I turned around and the mirror revealed what was on my back.  Four or five more welts approaching the size of a dollar bill and spreading up my back.  The swollen, reddish welts on my thighs were even bigger than a dollar bill.  

I knew what was happening.  I was having an anaphylactic attack.  I had an episode several months earlier.  The first time I thought it was a spider bite causing the welts.  I took a picture of it.  I fought through the breathing difficulties by using the training I had learned in the military on how to breathe for chemical attacks.  A little painful but I made it.  The next morning I saw my primary care physician who took one look at the picture and said it was not a spider bite, but rather hives and I had an anaphylactic episode.  She had been taking care of me medically for a couple of years and knew that I tended not to take things very serious.  She tried to make it clear that these episodes can be dangerous and life threatening.  Also, that the next one will be more serious than this first one.  She wrote out a prescription for epi pens (Epinephrine Auto-Injectors 0.3 mg).  She told me how to use them.  I told her I had used them on myself in military training.  I knew she wasn't impressed and she warned me again that I could die.  I picked up the epi pens at the pharmacy.  There are three in the box.  Two are real and one is for practice.  I did a practice one and it all came back easily.  Nothing to it.  Pull the blue cap off, plunge it into your outer thigh for three seconds, and pull it out.  

I was aware that I was sweating and itching and having a little more trouble breathing.  This went on for awhile and I expected it to stop like the last time and go away.  This was a little bit more difficult, so I continued to get on my knees next to the side of the bed, like a child praying, and breathed slowly without increasing my heart beat, and no fear, so adrenaline was not entering my blood stream.  I was doing everything right.  I knew I could beat this.  It was now a little after 1:00, and I was having more difficulty breathing.  As I look back on this, I cannot to this day understand why I didn't just use the epi pen and drive to the hospital.  I can only rationalize this by believing that the lack of oxygen was affecting my reasoning ability.  (I hope that it was not because of an out of control bravado that believed I could conquer anything.)  

At about 1:45, I was having great difficulty breathing and I actually crawled to the bathroom where the epi pens were.  It seemed to take a lot of my strength to open the cabinet and take the box out.  I got to my knees, took an epi pen out, flipped up the blue safety release and jabbed it into the side of my leg.  Nothing happened.  I looked at it and it was the practice pen.  I actually laughed to myself.  I had to catch my breath and reach for another pen.  Jabbed that in my leg.  It went in well, but there was no effect.  I had waited too long to use it.  It was rendered useless.  It was now almost 2:00.  I thought about calling 911.  It had now been 3 hours.  The nearest phone was in the master bedroom about 25 feet from where I was on the bathroom floor.  I couldn't stand up, but I could crawl.  I crawled into the bedroom.  Now I was at the point I couldn't breathe.  I stood up.  I knew I was not going to make it.  At that moment, I knew I was going to die.  I knew I had made the biggest mistake of my life.  Why didn't I call  911 before this?  Was this some kind of macho game?  Is this how I die?  I'm going to die for nothing?  I called out, "God save me!"  I then had a Grand Mal Seizure.  

When I came to I noticed that I was all wet.  Why am I so wet?  I then realized that I had lost control of my bladder and my organs were shutting down.  I was only less than 10 feet from the phone.  Incredibly, I was wondering if I should really call 911.  I made the decision I must and I must go now.  I crawled because it was impossible to stand up.  I could breathe again, but just barely.  I dialed 911.  The operator asked my situation.  I told her I could not breathe and needed to get to the hospital.  She asked my address.  I gave it to her.  She asked if I had pets.  I said no.  She asked if I could turn the outside light on the ambulance could find it easier.  I said I will try to do that.  She said if the front door was locked.  I said yes.  She asked me if I could unlock the front door.  I said I'll try.  

I then crawled as quickly as I could trying to control what little air I could inhale.  I reached up and turned the light on.  Rested for a few seconds and with literally the last of my strength, I turned the key to open the door.  The door opened, and I lay on the floor on my back.  I could't move.  I only had my bottom pajamas on.  I did not have a shirt on.  It was 2:30 in the morning.  A full moon out.  I looked up at the sky.  All was silent and calm.   It was very pretty.  But it was so cold.  All of a sudden a man showed up at the door.  He looked down on me and said he was my neighbor down the end of the road and he had heard the situation on his emergency phone.  He called the ambulance and gave them directions but it seemed like they were there quickly.  

The ambulance crew looked briefly at me and got me into the ambulance quickly.  They put a mask on my face.  I was driving in and out of consciousness.  I heard on guy say, "It's not working.  He's not breathing."  The hospital is only five miles from my home and we were there very fast.  I remember the ambulance driving into the building and nurses coming out.  I was then in what I thought was he ICU but I'm not sure.  I remember the nurses were roughing me up.  I wondered why they were treating me so mean.  They would put one mask over my face, and then suddenly rip it off and put another one on.  Whatever they were doing, it wasn't working.  They then began shooting me up with what I can only guess, because I didn't ask, was massive doses of epinephrine.  I could hear several doctors say, "Look how red he is.  Like a lobster."  I then remember being in a hospital chair with a mask on and I could see several nurses.  One in particular watched me constantly and she seemed to have a mean look on her face.  I looked up and saw a sign of some kind which had only one word on it, "BREATHE."  Then an ER doctor, who was very pleasant, came by my side and seemed to whisper, "We may not be able to help you."  (I didn't know what that meant at the time but I do now.)    

Obviously, the nurses weren't being mean to mean as they were doing their job and  I lived through this.  Three ER doctors were involved.  Unless they were just trying to scare me, they told me I was the worst case they ever treated where the patient lived.  One doctor told me that my oxygen level was below 70 when I got to the ER.  He didn't say how low and I didn't ask. 

I have almost made a full recovery.  I am no longer anemic, although still a little low and a little low in D3 and a few other things, but basically I'm back.  I only did one article in April of 2017, so this is really the first of many articles to come in the last two years.  I think it is also rather obvious that God, for the third time, has intervened again and saved my life.  For that I am eternally grateful.