The Dead Teach the Living

I sometimes pray at the local cemetery. People may think that’s weird or morbid. I understand that, and I don’t expect you to do it. But it focuses me. As in, “What will I do with my life between where I now stand and wherever I’ll one day be buried?”

Some stones are just there, as some people are. Some stones are amusing, as some people are. Some stones are heartbreaking, as so many are for children, teens, and young adults. And some stones are inspiring.

One gravestone profoundly impacted me. I wept at the vast power of what it meant in it’s simple expression. I wish I could have met the person, who died just before reaching 64. The bottom inscription says,

No Fear—only Faith
No Guilt—only Grace
No Pride—only Praise
No Claim—only Christ

Wow.
Here is a person who even in her death continues to teach the living. She certainly taught me.

Ecclesiastes 7:2 expresses much of what I’m getting at: “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every person; the living should take this into account.” This is not morbid ruminating. It’s great life advice. And wise people don’t live for fun and entertainment; they live for meaning and purpose.

This dear woman’s soul is more alive than ever in Heaven. And she’s surely having a great time. I encourage you to internalize and live her last—and lasting—message:

No Fear—only Faith
No Guilt—only Grace
No Pride—only Praise
No Claim—only Christ