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13 Brothers and sisters, do not be surprised when the people of the world hate you.14 We know we have left death and have come into life because we love each other. Whoever does not love is still dead. 15 Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderers have eternal life in them.
*I John 3.13-15 (NCV)
24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left death and entered life. 25 I tell you the truth, the time is coming and is already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will have life.
*John 5.24-25 (NCV)
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Today, is Ash Wednesday. Tonight, I place ashes on the hands or foreheads of worshippers, as we begin the season of Lent. I, throughout this day and night, wear the sign of the cross, marked in ash, on my forehead. The ashes signify death. In Lent we remind ourselves of our mortality.
We can conclude life and death are on a continuum, a spiritual one. This makes sense, seeing no energy-matter in the universe is ever lost, only changes form. And this continuum implies we are always experiencing life with as little or as much spiritual Vitality as we are prepared to receive.
Truly, we have nothing to fear as regards the "physical" demise of the body, which is another change in form. Yet, many of us, while not fearing death itself, do fear the way we might die.
I would conclude we have something much more to avoid, even fear if we must: spiritual death. I will share a story of a personal account.
This occurred 3:30 AM less than a week ago. I had enjoyed a pleasant sleep for several hours. I awoke at 3:30 AM, tired, but wide awake. I felt disturbed in my body. I got up, went to the faucet, and poured some water. I drank the water. I recall vividly the horrible feeling. There was awareness of a deep disturbance, a horrible emptiness, a dismal loneliness. I cannot put into words the horror of that time of maybe a minute.
Next, I began returning to "normal." I checked the time, and I went back to lay myself down. I was so thankful the horror had passed quickly. I reflected on and prayed about what the event had felt like: spiritual death. Earlier in life I had suffered from depression, endured a prolonged period of panic disorder symptoms, and had lived through despair over several months. I had, also, gone through the nightmare of what many would call demonic attacks in my early twenties. This was extended over several months. This recent about one minute, however, was a horror none of those happenings could compare to.
While lying down early that morning, I wondered if the Spirit had let me have this experience as a lesson. For one thing, it reminded me of how I had lived many years with such a sense of a Presence. Living in a profound spiritual consciousness had become second-nature to me, even during the most difficult of times. Yet, this taste of whatever that morning reminded me of how truly terrible the lives of some persons must be. Or is it that only by living close to Spirit, imbibing of Life, can one know the horror of not having that Presence and Vitality?
I do know I never again will take for granted the solace and blessing of walking covered with Love. I will never, as long as I am in my right mind, forget how horrible physical existence can be cut off from spiritual Life, eternal Life.
So, yes, I believe - no, I know - there is a death much worse than any demise of physical existence. That death is spiritual death. That death is to live cut off from spiritual Life, from God, from Love. That is hell.
This day, as we remember our physical mortality, let us recall the blessing of Eternal Life. This Life is not durational, even if presently we experience It in a durational dimension. Rather, "eternal" points to a Quality: Life, Spiritual sustenance, Sacred presence, and Holiness.
What quality is empirical evidence of this Life in us? Love. And that is one absence I felt that early morning - an emptiness, a void. And all this vacant of what? Love. Spiritual death is the absence of spiritual Love. Life is Love, Love is Life.
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*This writing ministry is the offering of Rev. Dr. Brian K. Wilcox, of SW Florida, a Pastor in the United Methodist Church, and Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL. To contact Brian, write to barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
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