Article February 12, 2018 Issue

‘O death, where is your sting?’

Kristin Jamerson

There are verses in the Bible’s book of Revelation that have often brought comfort to me: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (21:4, 5).

It’s easy to see how I might be comforted by this prophetic reassurance, but for many years, I was puzzled about the phrase, “there shall be no more death.” How can that be, when death seems to be a fact of life? Whether a loved one passes or we consider the world’s tragedies and wars, death is presented as inevitable and unavoidable.

What if we were to accept the blessing that St. John gave us in that verse from Revelation—right now? How might we do that? What if we were to see that it’s possible to be released from sorrow and crying now and, yes, even to experience, to a degree, “no more death”?

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