I find myself in the northwest corner of Arkansas - the Bentonville/Rogers area, specifically. This area houses the home offices of Tyson chicken, Daisy air rifles, and Wal-Mart; the latter of which may or may not be the reason I find myself here. But I digress… what better place than the Ozarks than to sit down and watch the UEFA Euro 2008 soccer tournament being hosted in Austria and Switzerland?
Death typically has airs of sadness and finality, regardless of our belief system. Even those who believe in an eternal afterlife experience the sadness of a lost loved one. There is, of course, deep theology surrounding the concept of death. I recently picked up a book of devotions by the Russian theologian Sergius Bulgakov. In it, I came across an oration discussing this very topic of death. I was greatly impresses with his take on death and want to share it.
I have been to numerous weddings. Most of them I have attended as a guest. There are many more weddings I have been invited to that I could not attend. There are a few weddings, though, where I have been asked to be part of the wedding party. This last weekend was one such time. As I stood in my tuxedo trying to smile for all the pictures, I reflected on the memories that I was participating in. I mean, like it or not, whenever my friends reflect on their wedding day, there I will be. But the memories are not simply one-way.
I recently heard an interesting comment that has my imagination active. If there was some sort of rampant disease, for example, that completely wiped out the human race, how long would our presence on earth be noticed? One estimation is that in only 10,000 years all traces of humanity would vanish. That means that all the steel and concrete would dissipate into the earth. All of the landmarks and monuments would disappear. It is often pointed out how damaging we are to the earth, yet it appears that the earth is somewhat self-healing. But, of course, the earth will not last forever.
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