Has Christ not Triumphed over Death? Further reflections on the spiritually unhealthy results of the pandemic

 

Has Christ not Triumphed over Death?

Further reflections on the spiritually unhealthy results of the pandemic

While this Covid-19 lockdown that has forced everyone to keep social distance from one another, and, in my opinion, has gone beyond the ridiculous, one thing has become very clear, both to myself, and other Orthodox pastors, and that is that many contemporary people, including many Christians, as well as believing Orthodox Christians, are terrified at the idea of their physical death.

The inevitability of death is particularly difficult to face for most Americans, as we've become a people that eschew traditional funerals, preferring to "celebrate the life" of our loved one, while disposing of the body, and banning any sign of death from the memorial service should we even decide to have a service. Yet the awareness of our own eventual death is the very thing we should be thinking about, if we want to be prepared for Eternity.

When we live our lives focused on enjoyment, pleasure, and the acquisition of material goods, we enslave ourselves, and can only find freedom in God's love. This love creates perfection and faultlessness, and when we think on your own death we become free to perform every task for God.

Our fallen and imprisoned hearts are in need of liberation, and we long to be inflamed with the love of God. This love of God must engender a love that permeates our very essence, and allows us to love every person and every creature. We must wish our hearts burn with love, a love that turns chaos into harmony.

It is Divine energy and Divine strength that would transform us into the beings God intended us to be, deifying and making our very being, whole. This action of God would bring the chaos of our lives into harmony, and our fear of death would be liquified, and be no more.

Given the promise of eternal life, how can we Christians be afraid of death, afraid of a virus that could serve as the very vehicle to bring us into everlasting life. How can we Christians sit silently while our government issues rule after rule to keep us from the very fountain of grace that is found in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, and the reception of the Life-giving Body and Blood of our Saviour?

We Orthodox Christians must live our lives, as much as possible, according to the reality that Christ has risen from the dead, and has defeated death, trampling down death by death, and we must shine this reality out to others.

With love in Christ,

Abbot Tryphon