I was at a gathering with family friends. It was a sun-bathed venue with long tables of food, aunties and uncles sitting around on stools chatting happily away. The occasion? A celebration of sorts. My mother had passed away. Strangely, she was still with us in person, being her usual chatty self and joking with everyone. Then came the time to bid her farewell. Everybody said their goodbyes while she made her way out to step onto the escalator to heaven, but I had not said my goodbye yet as I was still struggling to find the right words. How do you bid a quick farewell to your mother knowing you’ll never see her again?
Finally I blurted out ”再见!” (zai jian), as Mandarin is her first language. All of us echoed “再见” while watching her ascend the escalator. The dream ended there but stuck with me since. Firstly, it was amusing to have dreamt up an escalator to heaven. Secondly, because “再见” is simply the Mandarin equivalent of “goodbye”, yet it was the perfect parting phrase because it translates to “see you again”.
Saying “see you again” in that moment was bittersweet, because while I was not ready for her passing, I was comforted knowing it was not that I will never see her anymore, but that someday we will meet again. Perhaps this was why in my subconscious mind, her funeral presented itself as a party to celebrate her life as a child of God, and not as a sobfest.
Although my mother ascending an escalator to heaven can be dismissed as a dream, death and heaven are realities. I have found this to be the beauty of Christianity amidst the surety of death, this hope we have of heaven. This hope has comforted me many times when faced with news of bereavement from brethren, when dreading the day my loved ones pass on, when contemplating my own demise. Someday, we may all still meet again. Thankfully, the Bible helps us come to terms with this.
And her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal (Revelation 21:11). Forget Thanos’ Infinity Stones, the foundations of this heavenly city’s walls will appear garnished with all manner of precious stones - jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst. Walls of jasper, a city of pure gold, like unto clear glass. Heaven is the ultimate ‘bling empire’, a figurative vision given to the apostle John.
There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain (Revelation 21:4). For those of us who are not into bling, the Bible entices us with the promise of eliminating our suffering. Many are stumbled away from believing in God by the question “If God loves us, why does He allow suffering on earth?” One answer is glaringly obvious. Our earthly lives ended up less than perfect after sin entered into the world. While suffering is part of the human condition, God offers us a way to return to the place with no sorrow and pain. Just like how a person stranded in a cold snowstorm longs for and seeks out warm lodging, we who are stuck in this world of woe will then desire to return to the place where everyday is joy and peace.
For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:14). Death happens to us all eventually. We were never meant to stay here on this earth forever. No matter how carefully handled, some of my prized earthly possessions also lost their shine after a while and were tarnished. Embracing the concept of mortality put things into perspective. I now appreciate the eternal more, and find more value in laying up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55) The thought of dying crosses my mind more often than I would like to admit, usually with fear. However, the Christian should not fear death because she knows what lies beyond and has the confidence that the Lord will raise her up again at the last day. The sting of death is sin. The victory of the grave is through Jesus. Our hope is a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ who still lives today, not a philosopher nor a messenger buried six feet under. Our saviour has conquered death and so can we.
Heaven is a reality, one which Christians have the privilege of becoming citizens, one we should look towards as our goal. It is easy to get caught up and be weighed down by the worries of this earthly life, yet we have to remember it is all temporary. As the years go by, we’ll inevitably encounter the passing of our loved ones and someday our own. When it is time to bid farewell, take comfort in that it wouldn’t be “goodbye”, it’d be “see you again”.