Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying the weekend! I just made egg dishes and cookies and am cleaning the apartment as I am trying to get my work all done before the Vikings play!Emoji 
Devotions from Judy’s heart 
  One day I listened to an interview with Bishop Robert Barron and again I was touched by what he had to say. This time it was on death and why we should ponder our own death. I have written on death in the past but sometimes we need reminding that the time we live in this world is not all there is. In fact, for the Christian, we are told that what awaits us is far more glorious than anything we experience on this earth. In I Cor. 2:9, it says, “Eye hath not seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” We cannot even imagine with our mind how glorious our next life will be, but God has given us His Spirit to reveal those things to us.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         When we live with the truth that we are going to die and leave this world, it should change the way we live today. At one monastery, the monks were to dig a scoop of dirt from their own grave each day as a reminder of the life to come. Wow! That certainly would help us approach our lives today with the future in mind. We should not be afraid of death but looking forward to what is ahead.                                          Bishop Barron shared about how so many TV shows and movies are full of sex and violent deaths. Some movie stars when interviewed about death believed it was all over when you breathe your last breath.  Arnold Schwarzenegger said that you just go into the ground and rot!
Many are so afraid of death and try to keep it at bay. Years ago, the one who was dying was surrounded by family and after death placed in a coffin in the main room where people came to be with the family and grieve together. Today many people die in a hospital room and often alone. During COVID that was sadly a common practice. We’ve tried to ignore thinking about death, but it will come to all of us one day.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Bishop Barron shared about frightening things that people view about death. One that when you die you are no more. But that is not true for we are just transfigured into a new version with a spiritual body, and we are still a person. Secondly, that all our achievements are gone and fade away. No, what we did in this life is transferred over to God and he rewards us for all that we did for others. Thirdly, that death robs us of love of our loved one. No, even when they die God’s divine love is more powerful than death and our love for them is not lost. Fourthly, death robs us of earthly pleasures and joys. But that is not true either for what is in glory far exceeds anything we have known on this earth. Like Paul said, we can’t even imagine what God has for us ahead.
Let us be careful how we live each day, making the most of our opportunities but also with heaven in mind and life forever with the One who is love.
Challenge for today: Tell the next generation of what the Lord has for those that love Him.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy