Growing up in the rather secluded and small rural hamlet of Beazer, Alberta, I learned to admire the spectacular wonders of nature and creation. The seemingly endless expanse of sky, the rolling clouds and the stars amaze me to this day.
Once, I was treated to one of the most dramatic of all celestial events, a total solar eclipse. The day slowly grew dark as the moon’s disc completely covered the sun’s bright face. I was in what is called “the umbra.” This umbra did not last long as, shortly, the great light reappeared. It was transfixing.
Death is a Beginning, Not an End
Not many weeks ago, I attended the funeral of one of my heroes in life. He had lived for almost 94 years. While being his home teacher for several years, we had laughed together and shared picnics together, and I marvelled at the goodness of this great man. My life would now be a bit emptier without his perpetual smile and ever-present kindness. It was a testament to his goodness to see that many, many others were in attendance, paying their respects and sharing in the sadness.
As we all stood to welcome his family as they entered the chapel, I clearly saw in my mind’s eye a complete solar eclipse. With closed eyes, I imagined the light which this friend had given to the world and which a loving Heavenly Father had given him. Then the umbra appeared, and I saw and felt the darkness of death, but not for long. As the procession ended and the family was seated, I could see a light brighter than I ever could have imagined. I was certain of where he now is.
President Gordon B. Hinckley penned the words to a song entitled, “What Is This Thing That Men Call Death?”
“What is this thing that men call death
This quiet passing in the night?
‘Tis not the end but genesis
Of better worlds and better light.
“O God, touch Thou my aching heart
And calm my troubled, haunting fears.
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.
“There is no death, only change,
The gift of Him, who loved all men
With recompense for vict’ry won.
The Son of God, the Holy One.”
(Gordon B. Hinckley and Janice Kapp Perry, Ensign, February 2010, 39)
Mortality is a Preparatory Phase for Eternity
At every funeral, we contemplate the very question that Job pondered. “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). On such occasions, we may briefly consider our own mortality.
Death comes to all, and it is not a calamity to return home to God, no matter the age, as Joseph Smith reminds us: “The Lord takes many away, even in their infancy . . .The only difference between old and young dying is one lives longer in heaven and eternal light and glory than the other and is freed a little sooner from this miserable, and wicked world.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 176).
Marriner W. Merrill was an early member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He related an experience while immersed in thought at the loss of his son, who had left a large family of small children. As he was riding his horse along a road, his horse suddenly stopped. He looked up and saw his departed son standing beside the road. His son proceeded to say:
“Father, you are mourning my departure unduly . . . I have much work to do and your grieving gives me much concern. I am in a position to render effective service to my family. You should take comfort, for there is much work to be done here and it was necessary for me to be called. You know that the Lord doeth all things well” (Bryant S. Hinckley, The Faith of Our Pioneer Fathers [1956], 182).
Death is the Gateway to Eternity and Exaltation
Perhaps we should not be overcome with trepidation at the thought of our own demise. Job certainly was not anxious about his. Having been afflicted with unimaginable suffering, he pronounced, “When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).
Joseph Smith revealed this: “All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue to remain faithful. By the vision of the Almighty, I have seen it” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith [1977], 296).
Elder Neal A. Maxwell shared this poignant, uplifting insight. “The justice and mercy of God will have been so demonstrably perfect that at the Final Judgment there will be no complaints, including from those who once questioned what God had allotted in the mortal framework” (Neal A. Maxell, “Content with the Things Allotted unto Us,” Ensign, May 2000, 72).
Heavenly Father will surely have the last say. After all, His Son is the one who suffered for us in Gethsemane. Would not every father provide that, if possible?
“Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (Doctrine and Covenants 123:17).
Benjamin Franklin’s insightful epitaph reads:
The Body of
B. Franklin, Printer,
Like the Cover of an old Book,
Its Contents torn out,
And Stript of its Lettering & Gilding,
Lies here, Food for Worms.
But the Work shall not be lost,
For it will as he believ'd
appear once more
In a new and more elegant Edition
Corrected and improved
By the Author.
Benjamin Franklin Epitaph – From the Library of Congress
Death? I do not like the word much. To some, it is analogous to a wall, but for me, I prefer to envision it as a brilliant white door with a welcome sign. I enjoy Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s depiction of death in his work entitled “Resignation.”
“There is no Death! What seems so is transition;
This life of mortal breath
Is but a suburb of the life elysian,
Whose portal we call death”
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Resignation”).
Christ, in an effort to comfort His followers, soothed them with this reassurance. “Let not your heart be troubled . . . In my Father’s house there are many mansions . . . I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2)
I believe that my father and mother, now deceased, are preparing a place for me in heaven, just as they prepared one for me before I entered this world.
We on earth work in temples for our ancestors, and they, I am sure, are now preparing heaven for us.
God’s plan for us is a loving thing.