Open Graves

Each year at this time, my husband and I go to my dad's grave and clean out the old summer foliage around the headstone. We dig up the soil a bit and insert the foot prongs of a green wreath with a few seasonal decorations for the winter. This is done early so that we can get it in the soil before the ground freezes. The wreath stays there until spring. Most of my family from my father's side who have passed on are buried at this cemetery: my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. My mother is still alive at the age of 97!

Although some people think it morbid, I love to walk through the paths of the cemetery and remember old friends and patients from the past. I am a retired health care worker and have many memories of caring for these people in their time on earth. I have helped some of them to die with less pain and some semblance of comfort, and have given heartfelt encouragement to believers. It feels good to bring up the faces and memories of those gone before me. As I gaze around at all the headstones and ornaments, I wonder what it will be like when the graves open.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 – But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die — but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes — it's over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed. (MSG)

I try to imagine what it will be like! Will these headstones topple over with the expulsion of six feet of dirt, as resurrected bodies rise up and meet Jesus in the air? Will all the buried people come out? It is really hard to imagine. Many versions say that it will happen "in the twinkling of an eye".

1 Corinthians 15:52 – In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). (AMPC)

When this happens, will I be alive on earth or will I be in my grave? The Bible tells us that no one knows the time, but many say that it is coming soon. Only the Father knows. What I do know in my knower is that wherever I am, at the sound of the trumpet, I will be raised with Christ. I will then experience what is written in today's passage. I am confident that my name is written in His Book of Life.

Where are you going to be? Do you know? If you want to be with Him, just ask Him. He loves you, too.

Prayer: Dear God, please add me to Your Book of Life. I am a sinner, and I accept and believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son and that He died for my sins so that I might have eternal life. I make Jesus the Lord of my life, and I will live in Your salvation, because the Bible tells me so. Amen.