The Line Of Cars

The speed limit is 45 miles per hour.
I enjoy taking this particular, scenic road since it usually has no traffic.
When I drive on this road, my route is usually direct.
There are no traffic lights just rural scenery.

I left my house about three hours before a scheduled pedicure.
Even in the winter. this is one bit of pampering I enjoy.
I had errands to run before my 1:00 appointment.
I tried to plan my route so I would drive in a complete square from start to finish.

I was on my way back when the scenic road looked a bit congested up ahead.
I could not see what the problem was because of the cars in front of me.
It was still early so I was not concerned that I would be late.
I just did not understand the reason for the slow moving traffic.

As I got further down the road, the traffic was almost at a stand still.
I could see people in front of me straining their necks to see the problem.
I could see people behind me in my rear view mirror getting visibly distressed.
I assumed they did have to be somewhere very soon and this was delaying them a bit.

As I got closer, I noticed that the cars were all turning on to the same road.
Car after car turned right on to a gravel lane.
I noticed that the first car made a complete square and parked facing the street.
Each car did the same thing and parked one behind the other.

There was a truck three cars in front of me obstructing my view.
It was not until I slowly made my way down the road that I understood.
The cars were all turning into a cemetery.
The first car was actually a hearse that the truck had made it impossible for me to see.

I wondered if all the neck straining had been worth it.
I wondered if all the visible distress had lessened.
Someone had died.
They were being buried in that cemetery.

Schedules were affected by the line of slow moving cars.
The traffic congestion inevitably made people late.
The inconvenience of death.
How it interferes with our plans.

But modern Western culture is different. In the secular view, this material world is all there is. And so the meaning of life is to have the freedom to choose the life that makes you the most happy. However, in that view of things, suffering can have no meaningful part. It is a complete interruption of your life story – it cannot be a meaningful part of the story. In this approach to life, suffering should be avoided at almost any cost, or minimized to the greatest degree possible…Within the Western secular view of things, suffering is seen as an interruption of the freedom to live as makes you happiest.
(Walking With God Through Pain And Suffering, Tim Keller)

I remember reading Tim Keller’s book on suffering.
I saw what Keller meant as I was in the line of traffic.
Someone died and it was inconvenient.
Someone died and the funeral procession made other people late.

I wondered if the neck straining people or the visibly distressed people had a change of heart.
Did they feel bad about being annoyed when they saw the reason for the delay?
Was there any compassion towards the family that was burying a loved one?
Was there any self-reflection?

I remember the poem, The Chariot, by Emily Dickinson.

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

The poem continued for four more stanzas.
However, it was the first two lines of the poem I always remembered.
Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me.
I saw the reality of those lines as I passed the cemetery.

Every one of the drivers in the line of traffic had somewhere to go.
Some appointments were more important than others.
Death is the one appointment each person will one day face.
Despite our plans, death comes.

We are a culture that rarely self-reflects.
We are a culture that welcomes diversions.
We are a culture that rarely takes the time to contemplate or ponder.
We are a culture surrounded by noise and busyness and very little stillness.

Then, one day, we are face to face with death.
Death is the great leveler.
Death knows no race, or gender, or socioeconomic status.
Death interrupts our plans.

Death may be an interruption but death does not have the final say.
Death may be the great leveler but it has been defeated.
Death will stop for us.
However, death is only temporary.

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:50-57)

Death interrupts.
Death is an enemy.
Death does not have the last word.
Death has been swallowed up in victory.

The line of cars drove past a cemetery while a grieving family gathered there.
One day, the grave will not hold us any longer.
The grave will not hold us any longer because the grave could not hold Him any longer.
Jesus rose from the dead; Jesus the Firstfruits.

 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:20-26)

Jesus will one day destroy the last enemy.
No more neck strainers.
No more visibly distressed.
No more interruptions.

Where, O death, is your sting?