I don’t believe I’m becoming obsessed with death. However, I have been thinking a lot since my wife’s funeral last October about what I’d like to have at my own. It boils down to a lot of music in worship of Messiah.
I would want
· hymns from my childhood O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing, How Great Thou Art, Great Is Thy Faithfulness
· anthems from my teen years in church choir The Heavens Are Telling from Hayden’s Creation Oratorio, Open Our Eyes
· choruses from young adulthood as a new believer The Steadfast Love, (I’m drawing a blank on more examples.)
· as well as proclamation music from these last decades Indescribable, (Another blank.)
Open Our Eyes listed above declares
Thou hast made death glorious and triumphant!
For through its portals
we enter into the presence
of the living God!
I love that song, not only for its stirring crescendo, but also for the truth of its lyrics.
It is often said when a man dies in the arms of a woman that at least he died happy. Last Sunday, during worship, I wept, overwhelmed by joy in the Lord. I thought that were I to drop dead right then, I would leave this life doing one of my favorite activities.
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