catapult magazine

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discussion

doing things before dying

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dan
Jan 11 2008
06:16 pm

I’d like to know why Christians care so much about death as an important marker in time. Why, for example, should one strive to do certain things or see certain places before dying? If the next life is much like this one, only better, then there’s no need to finish things before dying. Surely eternity is enough time to finish up any projects or take any trips that didn’t get taken before.

This should not be perceived as a criticism of anyone — I am genuinely interested in this question. I have this strange feeling that most Christians don’t really believe in the next life. If they did, they would chill out. Don’t you think?

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laurencer
Jan 12 2008
10:02 am

Good point, dan! One of the things I’ve always liked about the new heaven and new earth is that it takes the pressure off to do all of the things you want to do before you die.

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Norbert
Jan 14 2008
11:08 pm

What exactly are going to be our options in eternity? Will it be "life as normal"? Do we have different expectations? Will we be singing "Glory, Glory, Glory!" ad infinitum? To be totally honest, I think I’d get bored with that after a millennium, but then again, that reasoning probably won’t be valid in heaven. Will I get to visit Morocco in heaven on earth?

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kirstin
Jan 15 2008
01:52 pm

I think the fact that what lies beyond death is a mystery has a lot to do with wanting to experience certain things before death. If I know Morocco exists now in a form that would delight and intrigue me, why not try to get there before I die? But Dan’s right—there’s often this fear and urgency and ego-centrism that betrays an ultimate disbelief in eternity. And it takes the form of everything from scrambling to experience things before we die, to turning church committees into life-and-death struggles for power.