St Peter's Close?

Last week's big news as far as TV was concerned was the eagerly awaited return to our TV screens of Downton Abbey.  The fourth series of Downton began minus a few of the major characters from the last series, most notably of all Matthew Crawley, who was dramatically killed off in a motor accident at the end of series 3.  His widow, Lady Mary, is in deep mourning (though, to be honest, she has hardly been a barrel of laughs in previous series!)   Much of the first programme of series 4 revolved around the repercussions of Matthew's death.

One element of the discussions which took place was the untimely and unexpected nature of his death.  He was still a relatively young man, and had just celebrated the birth of his and Mary's first child.  What particularly took my notice was when one character commented of Matthew, "He thought that his death was many years away."

Perhaps this sentence stood out to me because the subject of life and death has been on my mind quite a bit recently.  Last week, on my day off, Sue and I were making our way back home from a walk when we came across a road sign which caught my attention:

Seeing the sign immediately reminded me of the joke about the council which realised their mistake in naming a new road, containing residences for the elderly, St Peter's Close!  There have been many jokes over the years about people meeting St Peter at the 'pearly gates.'

Sue and I have enjoyed watching the dvds of the hit US medical drama, House, starring Hugh Laurie.  Despite that fact that there is much in the lifestyle and beliefs of House and some of his colleagues which are in clear conflict with our Christian faith, we have found ourselves enjoying the series, far-fetched as some of the stories are.  Interestingly, the vast majority of patients which House and his team treat ask the very same question: "Am I going to die?"

Of course their question relates to the timing of death, but as we all know, the ultimate answer is yes - you are going to die!  I know several people who are currently facing the reality of cancer.  When one gets a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness like cancer, the reality of our human mortality becomes very clear.  The real question for all of us is, "will I be ready to face death when it comes?"

Though the Bible makes the reality of death very clear, it also gives the assurance that if our faith is in Jesus Christ we have no need to fear.  Jesus himself experienced death, yet is alive today.  He defeated death, and makes the promise that all who put their faith in him can know life beyond death.

The truth is that none of us know how long we have left on this earth.  The important thing is that we are ready for when our earthly existence comes to an end.