Every night we pray in the Night Prayer the Canticle of Simeon and it ends with: "Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death" I was thinking about this sentence... What is a peaceful death? How would you like to die? Do you think seeing the second coming is a peaceful death? Do you dream about the day your will see your Saviour face to face? What will you first tell Him? Can you see this commonly sad topic as something that can be happy too? anything you can share about this
For me, death has become an enemy to be defeated by a strong faith in Christ. The LORD Jesus Himself conquered all death by dying, for each and all of us who were dead, bringing us life. In this context, there is a war on, and the Master leads. Death is a triumph for the Christian... for we say "death, where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory?" ! If we think of John Donne... Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow, Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
Death is total loss, a thing foreign to God's triumph, His victory, and His Kingdom. There was no death, decay, atrophy, or entropy in the Cosmos before the Fall, I think. If there had been, God's creation must've been imperfect and unloved, for it was dying already; but if that was so, why Create it at all? If death is not an enemy, why does Paul constantly mock it? Remember that in Adam "all die", but in Christ "Shall all be made alive"! It's clearly not "Brother Death" as Francis might say. Death is a warped creation of Satan, and it was trampled underfoot by the Cross of our LORD, so we rejoice.
See now you have defined what you mean by death, you had not done that previously, I was assuming you meant death as we know it in day to day terms, because that was what the OP was referring to.
But isn't death in day-to-day terms the power of death? That's what affects us and makes us worry so much. Death is death: ceasing to exist. There is no other kind. I am referring to the OP definition as well.