death is not something of which to be afraid

Friday I went to a workshop about death and dying well. We talked about how Christians need to talk about end of life and how leaders in the church need to lead the conversations. I was thinking about how Paul wrote about life and death. He said that to be absent from the body means to be present with the Lord. I deal with people who are dying every day and I see a lot of reactions to it. What is interesting is that it seems that often Christians are the ones who really struggle to actually let go. They are the ones who haven't talked about death and haven't made advanced directives. In fact one of the doctors who spoke talked about a study that confirmed this.
Why is it that Christians are afraid of death? Why is it that we don't talk about advanced directives and don't encourage people to plan ahead. Why is it that we forget that there is hope in death because once we pass that veil we are whole in Heaven? Jesus told the thief on the cross that "today you will be with me in Heaven." The thief would no longer have to feel the pain on the cross because of Christ. We have that same hope.
Of course Paul also spoke of the fact that to remain in the body is also good because it is for others. We are called to serve others. So to stay in the body is to be here for others and to be absent from the body means that we are whole with Christ. So we have to live without fear. We aren't afraid of life on earth because we have been called by Christ and we are not afraid to serve. We aren't afraid of life in heaven because we have been saved by Christ and we know that our hope is in Heaven.
The point is to encourage you to speak to each other about what happens in the end. Tell your loved ones what you want because leaving them to decide whether you would want CPR or not when you are going to die anyways is cruel. It is okay to sign an advanced directive and give this gift to your loved ones. It takes away the guilt and allows you to tell them that you know Christ and you know that to be absent from the body means to be present with the Lord. I'm 34 years old and I have an advanced directive. I urge you to talk to your loved ones and then I urge you to teach others. Become a leader in your Church who helps remind people of the hope they/we have in Christ.