I Went For a Walk

*Writer’s Note: I know I just posted a blog entry, but it was kind of lame, so I’m writing another. :)

So I went for a walk in a cemetery yesterday afternoon. It was really nice, actually. I don’t think I knew what I expected, but it’s very peaceful and quiet there, and was a very nice Sunday afternoon activity. I even felt the Spirit as I looked at some of the gravestones. I took some pictures and I’d like to share some of those here (*Note: none of them are people I know – if anyone who reads this who knows one of these people and would like me take the picture down, please let me know).

But it got me thinking. Our Western culture is not very good at dealing with death. This is clearly evident from the way it is shown in popular culture, and how funerals are conducted. Yes, we should be sad when someone we love dies. As God has said, “Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die (D&C 42:45).” But that doesn’t mean we should despair.

One of the hardest things I think I saw was something that hit close to home: babies dying. My mother gave birth to a little boy when I was 20 months old. His name was Andrew. He had complications at birth and only lived a few hours before he died. Losing a child must be so difficult. I don’t know how my parents got through that period of their lives. But I saw a few of those kinds of gravestones.

I don’t know which is harder: losing a baby right after the baby is born, or getting to have some time to know your baby, and then have them taken away, like happened to my friend a little bit ago.

One of the gravestones I saw that touched me the most was this one:

She was only 21 when she died, and had only been married 8 months. I feel so sad for her husband, that he lost her so soon.

But this one made me happy:

Look at the death dates. She died Jan. 31, 1916. He died a week later, on Feb. 7. I’d like to think he followed her so soon because he missed her so much and couldn’t stand to be away from her for very long.

One of the hardest things to remember when death confronts us is to keep the proper perspective. God can see the end from the beginning, and we need to somehow gain a portion of his eternal perspective. We need to remember that we can see that person again. The back of this headstone is hard to read, but it says this:

Friend and husband, brother, son
Some say his life had just begun
This playful spirit, joyful man
Keen of mind, gentle, grand

***

For he who sent him here is pleased
And when besought for his release,
By holy covenants which bind,
Said, “Send him home, he first was mine.”

We shouldn’t be afraid to die. Death happens to all of us. There is no escaping it. And we should not despair when people we love die. What we can and should do is pray for a portion of God’s eternal perspective, and be grateful for the time we had on this earth to spend with those we love.

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“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Philippians 1:3