Living, Dying, Living Forever. David Sherbino

      Living, Dying, Living Forever: Spiritual Reflections on the Journey of Life

      Copyright ©2014 David Sherbino

      All rights reserved

      Printed in Canada

      International Standard Book Number: 978-1-927355-54-1

      ISBN 978-1-927355-55-8 EPUB

      Published by:

      Castle Quay Books

      Pickering, Ontario, L1W 1A5

      Tel: [phone]

      E-mail: [email protected] www.castlequaybooks.com

      Edited by Marina H. Hofman Willard

      Cover design by Burst Impressions

      Printed at Essence Publishing, Belleville, Ontario

      All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise specified, are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. • Scriptures marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. • Scripture is taken from GOD’S WORD®, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group. • J. B. Phillips, “The New Testament in Modern English”, 1962 edition, published by HarperCollins. • Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982. Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers. • Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. • Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission of the publishers.

      Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      Sherbino, David, author

      Living, dying, living forever : spiritual reflections on the journey of life / Dr. David Sherbino.

      Includes bibliographical references.

      Issued in print and electronic formats.

      ISBN 978-1-927355-54-1 (pbk.).—ISBN 978-1-927355-55-8 (epub)

      1. Death—Religious aspects—Christianity. 2. Life—Religious aspects—Christianity. 3. Christian life. I. Title.

      BT825.S54 2014 236’.1 C2014-900668-3 C2014-900669-1

      Table of Contents

      Author’s Note

      Introduction

      Chapter One: The Journey

      Chapter Two: Getting Closer to God

      Chapter Three: Letting Go of the Past

      Chapter Four: Looking Forward

      Chapter Five: Show a Little Kindness

      Chapter Six: A Life of Gratitude

      Chapter Seven: Fear Not!

      Chapter Eight: Ahh, Peace

      Chapter Nine: Living With Uncertainties

      Chapter Ten: When You Suffer

      Chapter Eleven: The Root of Bitterness

      Chapter Twelve: When Your Heart Breaks

      Chapter Thirteen: Admitting the Truth About Yourself

      Chapter Fourteen: Forgive One Another

      Chapter Fifteen: Living with Hope

      Chapter Sixteen: Leaving a Legacy

      Chapter Seventeen: You Are in Good Hands

      Chapter Eighteen: Going Home

      Chapter Nineteen: Final Words

      Endnotes

      Author’s Note

      In recent years there has been an increased interest in the topic of death and life after death. Most of us know that one day we will die, but at the same time there is a reluctance to talk seriously about the issues we will face. As a minister with years of congregational experience I have witnessed how many people who were dying never had the opportunity to explore the important issues of their life or even to say goodbye, simply because the topic of their death was too painful to address.

      Living, Dying, Living Forever is a statement about life. We live, we will die, and we will live beyond death; but in order to die well and to live with the hope of life beyond death, we need to learn to live well. This book is intended to help you explore significant issues in life and to be able to speak to others about your thoughts and wishes so that when the time comes for your death you are able to bring closure and commit yourself to the care of God, with no regrets.

      Written from a Christian perspective, the material enables you to explore not only your relationship with God but also your relationship with others—the two things that will last forever. As your relationship with God grows and develops you begin to see life from the perspective that eternal life has already begun and will continue beyond the moment of your death. This is what gives hope, even in the midst of all the struggles and challenges of life. The words of Scripture enable you to have a forward approach to life because you know the best is yet to come.

      “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

      Introduction

      For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up…a time to seek, and a time to lose. (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,6, NRSV)

      These words from Ecclesiastes are familiar to most, yet seldom do we give serious consideration to the implication of this message for our lives. On one level we know there is a time for all of us to die, but at another level we want to keep the topic of death away from our day-to-day experience.

      Regularly we are confronted by images of death through news events about accidents, homicides, terrorist attacks, civil wars or natural disasters. We are exposed to images of children dying from disease and famine with appeals to the wider community to assist in any way possible. Perhaps some of you have lost a loved one, and you know the sorrow and heartbreak death brings.

      In the Old Testament, death was perceived as a reality that needed to be acknowledged. The Psalmist wrote, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). In a recent course I taught on death and dying, students were asked to take some time to discuss their thoughts about death with family members and what they desired when the time came for them to die. At the end of the semester when the subject was revisited, less than half the class had talked to their family members about dying, and of the half who did many of their family members told them they did not want to pursue the conversation. It was too upsetting to think about dying, and they wanted to avoid discussing the topic, because death is something that is bad.

      Granted, most would not see death as something good, but some deaths are perceived as better than others. In the Old Testament a premature death was perceived as a bad death, and even today we speak of people dying too young. The implication is that they have not had the opportunity to experience life to the full. When Hezekiah, the king of Judah, was recovering from his illness, he reflected on dying at such a young age. “In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?” (Isaiah 38:10).

      Death by violence was also considered a bad death. Amos the prophet spoke about Jeroboam, who would die by the sword. Today we still