Under a Parking Lot

I was scanning the headlines on foxnews.com when I came across this article about the newly-discovered skeletal remains of King Richard III. This man who reigned as king over England in the 15th century was killed in battle and his remains were discovered, not in an unearthed royal tomb, but under a parking lot in Leicester. Of course, there's a lot of backstory discussed in the article, and it's an interesting read from a political perspective, but I couldn't help but draw from this article a very important spiritual lesson.

King Richard was once a young man with unblemished skin and his whole life ahead of him. He was a man who certainly had dreams and aspirations. I'm sure there were times in Richard's life where he felt time was crawling by, days when the sun seemed to linger in the afternoon sky longer than usual. I'm sure he observed grave-stones and attended funerals and thought, especially as a younger man, "Death is a long ways off." And yet this man, though royal in lineage, suffered the fate to which all of us are bound. It is "appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). There is "a time to be born, and a time to die" (Eccl. 3:2). And yes, "All go to one place: all are from dust, and all return to dust" (Eccl. 3:20).

It doesn't matter how immortal we sometimes feel. It doesn't matter how special we think we are. It doesn't matter that we think more highly of our modern era. We are mortal creatures and death will come to us all. And even if a grand funeral is held in our honor, and even if men and women herald our name for years to come, we will eventually be forgotten. Our bodies will be buried and we will eventually be just another one of the countless billions of men and women who have passed on before us and whose bodies now fill the earth beneath our feet.

Just yesterday, two men with connections to the Queen Way church of Christ passed away. One day it will be me. And then one day it will be my son. And so on.

Why am I so sullen and downcast? Am I struggling with depression? Why the negativity?

I am not depressed, or sullen or downcast. Neither is this article negative in nature.

"Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth" (Eccl. 7:2-4).

These thoughts humble us and remind us of our mortality, and hopefully, if we're honest and reflective, direct our minds to the Immortal and Living God to whom our souls are subject. Enjoy life, but more importantly, use your SHORT life to prepare for eternity.

After all, you may one day end up buried under a parking lot.