Life Everlasting

Did you ever think about not dying? About living forever, here, on planet earth? I have thought about dying, but never really about the consequences of not dying.

I used to stay awake at night tossing and turning because I was afraid to die. Especially in 8th grade, the Cold War was still on and the Russians were feared. I was afraid of Nuclear Holocaust at the hands of the Russians and it really kept me awake at night. I remember the movie "The Day After" which I did NOT watch because I thought it would multiply my fears.

Up until a few years ago I would lie awake at night pondering death because of the simple fact I am getting older. It frightened me to think about the fact that I was possibly about half way through my life and my youth was behind me. All I had to look forward to was getting older, and dying. It was scary.

Today I went to see the movie Tuck Everlasting. It really made me ponder what it might be like to live forever. To be immortal means I wouldn't die. I couldn't die. I could get shot in the head and not die. I could leap from the top of the Sears Tower and break my neck, be splattered on the sidewalk, and in a few moments simply get up and walk away. The car wreck I had would be an inconvenience, but again, I would walk away from it with no effect on my health or life. I couldn't die.

In Tuck Everlasting the female lead character, Winnie, sits at the "fountain of youth" and considers taking a drink. With her hand cupping the water and stirring it about she thinks about the boy she is in love with who will never die. He tells her that he wants her to drink from the fountain so that when he comes back to her they can live together forever. (Jesse, her love interest needs to go away to hide so people won't discover the spring that offers immortality. He tells her he will come back to her when it is safe.) Winnie also thinks about the words of wisdom from Tuck, the father, who is also immortal and will live forever. "What we Tucks have you can’t call livin’. We just are, like rocks stuck at the side of a stream. You can’t have livin’ without dyin’. Don’t be afraid of death, Winnie. Be afraid of the unlived life." The movie brings about some interesting points about life and how it is meant to be a cycle and people are supposed to go through its intended stages. While the girl contemplated drinking from the spring, Tiffany, my friend's 10 year old daughter said to the screen "don't drink it!". I asked her after the film..."Tif, what? Did you want Winnie to die?" and I'll tell you her response a little later.

One of the characters tells about how his family, wife and kids, grew up and all died off. He spoke of being at Gettysburg and watching brave men die and that he couldn't. He couldn't die. Life began around them, ended around them, but the Tuck family couldn't die. The cycle of life continued on, basically without them. They adapted their lives to the changing times, but they didn't change with them. As Tuck put it, they just "are, like rocks stuck at the side of a stream". For the Tucks, time moved forward...but to where?

I can think right now about how much has changed in the 36 years I've been alive. I remember the first time we could tape a tv show and watch it later. The VCR, what a neat idea! It was so exciting to know I'd never miss Little House on the Prairie! Popcorn used to be popped in oil on the stove, now it's in microwave bags. There was that short time that hot-air popcorn poppers were all the rage! Got my first CD player in 1985, before that it was vinyl records. I sure miss the big whompin' album covers, it was an art! Debit cards. Heck, writing checks is all but obsolete! How about the Internet? E-mail? Instant Messaging? Those terms never entered the mind of any people I see pictured in my high school yearbook. Personal Computers are in almost any home nowadays, and in my home growing up the technological advances were limited to the Dataman (remember that?) and the big one was the Atari 2600 Game Console! Woo! Nothing like Target Shoot! Imagine living generation to generation and never changing with the times. The movie really made me ponder the consequences of not dying, of not changing with the times, of watching generation after generation come and go and not going with them.

Not dying? What is there to look forward to? I live now with a hope that when I die, I will live eternally with my Father. My Savior will look into my eyes with more Love than my earthly body, mind and soul can even comprehend. While I used to be afraid to die, I can now embrace it because of the Hope I have in Jesus Christ. God created us to live forever, our sin messed that up, but He offered us a new way to accept eternal life with Him. If I couldn't die, what would there be to look forward to? Time would move forward...but to where?

Tiffany's response to the question, did she "want to see Winnie die?" was "how did she know he would come back for her?" Interesting. I had not expected that answer, nor did I even ponder it. It's a good question. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that I know that He will come for me because I did drink from the Living Water. I have eternal life. It is that life I can look forward to. I can't imagine living this life without that Hope.

My body will die. My spirit, my soul will live forever. I thank the Lord that He has not bound me to this body forever!