Cemeteries

Just a few blocks from where I am enjoying a few days of R&R is one of the largest cemeteries in .Portland, OR.  It spreads over a series of hills and valleys with winding roads. It is also a forest of old growth trees, and a beautiful place – even though many people are uncomfortable in such places.  I went for a long run there this morning. It was cool, beautiful, and quiet. . .very quiet.

I’m not uncomfortable there.  I figure if I am going to spend any time in a cemetery, it has to be now. I talk to people who tell me they want to be buried in a beautiful place – like this one, surrounded by trees and incredible views.

I don’t care where my “remains” end up. I will be absent. The Scripture says, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). I won’t spend a minute in the cemetery after my departure. Hence, it does not bother me at all to be there now.

I don’t mean to sound uncaring about what is important to others, but I live with the certainty that the end of this mortality is the beginning of immortality. I will be changed, and a new forever will begin.

I am looking toward that New Earth (see Revelation 21), and if I am a runner there, I can only imagine the landscape we will enjoy when I shall join my friends for a morning workout.

If you are not sure about where you will spend forever, or cemeteries bother you, find a Church or a Believer who can give you information about redemption and eternity. You will rest easier, I promise.