In Memoriam: Life Has Changed, Not Ended
My favorite line from Rite of Christian Burial is, “life has changed not ended.” What a comforting promise in the face of losing a loved one. Death does not have the final say. It will not win in the end. This struck me in a profound way in June 2019 when my aunt (who was like a second mom to my siblings and I) died and most recently in January when my dad passed away. It is a bold claim we Christians believe: that even when our physical bodies cease to exist, our spiritual bodies live on. Life really has not ended then, it just looks a little bit different. No other world religion believes that our spirit lives on in a deeper way when our physical body dies. We have hope in the promise of eternal life because Jesus himself rose from the dead. Our God proved to us that death never ever has the last response. Do we miss our loved ones when they die? Yes of course! We wish they could hold us close in a warm hug or talk on the phone asking advice for a difficult situation. We wish we cou
