Nothing Wasted

Recent events have got me thinking about the shortness of life. When I read in Psalm 103 that the human lifespan is "as grass," I can only agree. The passage goes on to say, "As a flower of the field, so he (man) flourishes. For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more."

Several years ago, one of my students read me a poem called "Perfection Wasted" by John Updike. The idea of the poem is that people work all their lives perfecting their personalities, their "act," and then when they die, it is all gone forever. I couldn't help crying as I thought about my own dad and the wonderful man he was--funny, smart, compassionate--and the thought that all his jokes and his wit died with him did indeed seem like a waste.

But my dad knew Jesus. My dad lives. I confess I don't really know how the afterlife works. I know that Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8), but I don't really understand where or how we are present with the Lord. Perhaps I should be content to know that God knows. When I was a child, it all seemed so simple, but as I myself get closer to finding out first hand--and as people I love make the transition--I wonder more and more about what we'll be doing when we're finished here.

And we'll be finished here very shortly--like a flower of the field. But even flowers replenish the earth after they die. They're not wasted. If God doesn't waste flowers, is he going to let all our love and learning die with our bodies?  Think of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. We are more valuable than lilies of the field. God has a bigger and better plan for us.

The passage in Psalm 103 goes on to say, "but the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him." If God's mercy for me is everlasting, then his plan for me must be so as well. I remember asking Bea Ward if she thought we'd be able to do things in heaven that we didn't have time for in this life. Her answer was immediate: "Oh, yes!" she said. "I'm going to learn Chinese."

--Sherry Poff