Under Heaven

A visit to the hospital, as I have recently learned from experience, can be one of the most sobering things you'll ever do. I'm not talking about a visit to one of the recovery wards, flowers in hand. Rather, time spent in the critial care unit is what gives cause for this thought.

One can't help but come to terms with death and what comes after. It does, after all, surround you. Not that everyone there is going to die; no, far from it. But everyone there has had to face it: the patients, the doctors, the nurses and especially the family and friends.

Unfortunately, for many, death really is the end of all they hold dear; there is no hope beyond the grave. Thankfully, it is not so.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV)
¹There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

I have resisted the urge to post a song today. I suppose "Turn, Turn, Turn" by The Byrds would have been most appropriate.