Vanity of Vanities

 




When the death of a loved one occurs in the family, Death becomes our teacher. God The Master of masters, the Teacher of teachers uses the very thing He once used on our First Parents, to show once again how vain the world is. The riches we accumulate, the properties we own, the relationships we hold dear, the status that we so endear, the 'loves' we 'love', the 'hates' and 'grudges' we hold close to our hearts are all so vain. In the end, whether we turn to ashes, or we become the feast of maggots and worms in the grave, our very existence is just that, dust. Scripture says, "In the morning man shall grow up like grass; in the morning he shall flourish and pass away: in the evening he shall fall, grow dry, and wither." (Psalm 89(90): 6).

No relationship, no possession, no job, no riches can satiate man. Because as St. Augustine writes, "man was made for the O Lord, and his heart resteth not until it rest in Thee" (De Confessio, chapter I, Book I). Thus, a death in the family shows us the words uttered to us on Ash Wednesday, the Curse invoked on Adam and his seed, "dust thou ar't and unto dust ye shall return" (Genesis 2).


The only thing important is God. Our relationship with Him is the only eternal Relationship we ought to care for. Before that last candle is extinguished, let us from the depths of our hearts cry out, "Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.  If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.  For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord." (Psalm 129: 1-5)


To conclude, the dead tell us, "what you are, I once was; what I am, you shall be." Let us therefore remember this one truth, that great monks and hermits of our Holy Faith have kept repeating, "BRETHREN WE ALL GOING TO DIE". 

But how we want to meet God at our Particular Judgement, that is up to us.


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