Viva la Vida (Death and all his friends)

"Those who are dead are not dead

They're just living in my head

and since I fell for that spell

I am living there as well

Time is so short and I'm sure

there must be something mooorrre"

By:  COLDPLAY; Album:  Viva la Vida; Song:  42 

Those who know me, tend to know that I at times wear my emotions on my sleeve.  However, for like 98.5% of the time, I am very positive and upbeat.  Does that mean I don’t have pain, grief, or experiences that temporarily sap my energy and spirit?  No way!  I just know that I know, that I know, that “there must be something moooorrre!

Additionally, those of you who also know me well; know that yesterday marked the 8^th anniversary of our daughter Megan’s death in this world.  The above Coldplay song caught my attention the other day, and it resonated with me for a variety of reasons. 

#1 – Memories and glimpses of those that have passed are all we have once they have moved on.  So from that point on, they tend to live in our head and our hearts.

#2 – We can tend to dwell in those memories during different phases of the grief process or the pain that we may be experiencing from some trauma or event in our lives.  Fortunately for me, I have been able to jump in an out of this “spell” without living there and letting it rule my life.  If you’re stuck in a moment or a “spell”, then there is no growth, movement forward or forward thinking; and that is not a good thing.

#3 – Time is short and because of both my life experience and my walk with God, I am sure that there IS something more – period!

Megan died on Easter Sunday morning which to me is/was profound.  The event (the resurrection of The Christ) that happened on that day some 2000 years ago, IS the “something more” that Coldplay is trying to convey.  That event, if tried in a court of law, could not be disproved even by the best of trial lawyers.  It has been tried in the court of public opinion during these 2000 plus years and it still resonates as THE most significant event in human history.

 You may ask – “So what Richie, what’s the BIG deal?”  The big deal is that there IS something more, and that is what gives us Hope and that is what helps get us out of the “dwelling in” phase of pain and grief.  The apostle Paul in the book of Philippians talked very clearly about this “something more” in the following passage (Philippians 3:7-14):

“7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Pressing on Toward the Goal

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

So.., the “something more” is the goal to win the prize, BUT and it is a big BUT (not butt) if you notice in verses 7-9, it is all about living in the here and now.  Meaning that there is a significant importance to letting people see the risen Christ in and through your life and actions.  This includes the bad times (grief, pain, suffering) and the good times!  Not an easy thing I know, but it is something we are encouraged to do.

Ok.., nuff said!  Until the next time – press on peeps!  One Love to you all!