Cemeteries: Joy In Spirit And Grief Of Heart

I don't know if you've ever felt it before, but there's a mild fascination I experience when visiting a cemetery. I stand there looking across the vast expanse of the land and take in the sight of thousands of headstones that contain tens of thousands of names. There are people buried in unmarked pauper's graves, children's graves, single graves, family lots, and those who are buried in above ground and walk-in mausoleums. There are those whose engraved grave marker is worn and impossible to read, and those whose flat marker will soon be completely covered up and forgotten, like those that have already disappeared with time. The names and dates on these grave markers or crypts give us only the most basic information for those buried there. Name, date of birth, date of death, and maybe a short inscription. They come from all backgrounds; from business owners and entrepreneurs to factory workers and the indigent. The rich, the poor, the successful and the ones who had to struggle their whole life to make ends meet.

God gave most of them a life filled with personal experiences; joy and laughter, sadness and grief, amazement and love, praise and worship, incredible faith, etc... Some, like a cousin of mine, was stillborn and was ushered immediately into heaven. Others had a tragic ending to their life, through their own actions, the actions of others, or though an unforeseen tragedy. Still, others lived a long life, living into their 80's, 90's and 100's. 

I think of some of their stories... a spouse grieving as their wife or husband passed on before them. A child whose life was cut short, as was the case with Louise Cambra, whose headstone appears here. They each had a life story that was buried with them. The stories of their life remain in the memories of those who knew and loved them, but those life stories last only one or two generations before they're lost to time, as those who knew them pass away as well, taking those beautiful memories with them. Their graves, once lovingly attended to by family, now stand cold and bare as those family members get too old to visit the cemetery, or who pass on into eternity themselves, leaving no one to remember the loved one that they cared so much about. Their long lost loves become nothing more than a name on a family tree. 

It makes me wonder how much of my personal story will live on beyond my years. I'm realistic enough to know that whatever those memories are, they'll die within one generation, and then I'll be like everyone else at the cemetery... lost to history... a name and a date on cold grave marker with no story to go with it. I guess that's why I've added so many memorials to the Find A Grave website. I feel that everyone should be remembered, and I do my small part to make sure people aren't forgotten... that they aren't just remembered as a name and date. But that's the limit of those of us here on earth. We can document a person's life, but it's impossible to really experience someone else's life. There's only One who can do that.

When my story on earth eventually ends, there's One who will know exactly what I was thinking, feeling, battling with, straining to accomplish, etc... He knows all the stories from birth to death; He knows my personal struggles; He knows my deepest and most intimate thoughts and feelings; He knows the intent of my heart; He knows those things that I longed for deep in my heart... God will have been with me from conception to death, experiencing everything with me, from beginning to end. He's laughed with me, cried with me, mourned with me, joked with me, sustained me through my darkest days, carried me when I had no strength, protected me from those things I was unaware of, walked by my side in the struggle and in the pain. He's been with me through it all.

As I scan the cemetery, I'm reminded that God gives everyone multiple opportunities to seek Him, to know Him, and to receive the gift of salvation that is found in no one but Jesus. I often wonder, "How many of those who are sleeping in the ground under my feet actually repented of their sin and lived their life faithfully for Jesus? How many were true born again believers?" It gives me joy in my spirit to know that those who truly repented and lived their life for God are in His presence right now. I am truly thankful to God for them. I'm overjoyed knowing that I'll be living and fellowshipping with them throughout eternity!!! But my joy turns to grief when I understand that there is a greater number of those who have died without repenting and without having a true relationship Jesus. I grieve for those who have gone before me and who have chosen to reject Jesus and what He did for them. I'm helpless to help them, because they've already stepped into eternity. They chose the wide and easy road through life, living their life in the flesh and doing what they wanted to do, which eventually lead to their destruction.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it, for the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 17:13-14 

I think the saddest thing is having a family member or friend who rejects God or who has created their own personal 'god' in their own head that gives them permission to live their life as they see fit and still make it to heaven, and who will argue to the point of division, but it's expected. Jesus said...

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and man's enemies will be the members of his household." Matthew 10:34-36

My own experience is evidence of that. My own mother told me on more than one occasion that I was "too religious," and when I tried explaining the salvation message to her, she'd wave me off and say, "You believe in God your way and I'll believe in Him my way." She wasn't a devout Catholic (hardly ever went to Mass), but she still considered herself Catholic. Even at the end of her life as she was dying of pancreatic cancer, she still rebuffed my efforts to explain the salvation message. She chose to reject my words in favor of trusting in the watered down teachings of Joel Osteen, while trusting in her own personal interpretation of Catholic religiosity. I'm not disrespecting or shaming her. No, I'm using her as a warning to others. There are many who have died with a "belief" in Jesus, but to whom Jesus will say...

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Matthew 7:21-23 (bold and underline mine)

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. The worldly reaction to death is to say Rest In Peace (R.I.P.), but that's not scriptural, because there is no rest or peace for those who have died in their sin. The only way anyone can rest in peace, is to make the choice in this life to repent of their sin and to believe, in faith, that Jesus lived and died for them, and shed His blood for the remission of their sin, and they need to do that before they breathe their last breath and pass into eternity. Anyone can say they believe in God, but do you have a faith that actively seeks a daily relationship with Him and that leads to obedience? We're told that it's by our fruits that we'll be judged. What kind of fruit are you producing?

"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits." Matthew 7:17-20

Is my mother resting in peace? I don't know. That judgment is above my paygrade. All I can say is that she refused to accept the message of salvation before she stepped into eternity, and that thought sometimes bothers me, but I have to remember that we all live a life that God has given us, and we all have the same opportunities to surrender our life to Him. I understand that there will be those who will act upon faith, and those who will not, family included. 

So as you can see, it's important to make that decision now, because we're not promised another day on this earth. If you look at the number of people who are killed or die unexpectedly every day (just look at the headlines), remember, that you could also meet that same fate. Everyone likes to believe that it can't happen to them, but I'm sure that those who died unexpectedly were thinking the same thing and living their life oblivious to what was about to take them from this world and instantaneously thrust them into eternity. 

If you want to know what salvation means and what it means to be born again, CLICK HERE and you'll be taken to another page on this website that explains it to you in easily understandable terms.

Even though this world will eventually forget my name and my grave will blend in and stand quietly among the thousands of others, I'll be living my best life in heaven with the One who knows everything about me, down to the smallest detail. 

I'm reminded of song lyrics that say, 

To everyone who's lost someone they love, long before it was their time, you feel like the days you had were not enough when you said goodbye. 

And to all of the people with burdens and pain, keeping you back from your life, you believe that there's nothing and there is no one who can make it right. 

There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary, and love for the broken heart. There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing, He'll meet you wherever you are... cry out to Jesus!

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on, they've lost all their faith and love. And they've done all they can to make it right again, still it's not enough. 

For the ones who can't break the addiction and chains, you try to give up, but you come back again, just remember that you're not alone in your pain and your suffering.  

There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary, and love for the broken heart. There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing, He'll meet you wherever you are... cry out to Jesus!

When you're lonely, and you feel like the whole world is falling on you, you just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus! Cry to Jesus!

To the widow who suffers from being alone, wiping the tears from her eyes. 

For the children around the world without a home, say a prayer tonight. 

There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary, and love for the broken heart. There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing, He'll meet you wherever you are... cry out to Jesus! 

CLICK HERE to watch the music video.

REPENT, AND BE FORGIVEN!

BELIEVE, AND BE SAVED!

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