Can Death Be Called 'Good' ?
Lent Day 3 (2/24): The Art of Dying Well w/ St. Robert Bellarmine
“But although death cannot be considered good in itself, yet the wisdom of God hath so seasoned it as it were, that from death many blessings arise. Hence David exclaims; "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints: " and the Church speaking of Christ saith: "Who by His death hath destroyed our death, and by His resurrection hath regained life." Now death that hath destroyed death and regained life, cannot but be very good: wherefore if every death cannot be called good, yet at least some may. Hence St. Ambrose did not hesitate to write a book entitled, "On the Advantages of Death;" in which treatise he clearly proves that death, although produced by sin, possesses its peculiar advantages.
There is also another reason which proves that death, although an evil in itself, can, by the grace of God, produce many blessings. For, first, there is this great blessing, that death puts an end to the numerous miseries of this life. Job thus eloquently complains of the evils of this our present state: "Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries. Who cometh forth like a flower and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continued in the same state." Chap. iv And Ecclesiastes saith: "I praised the dead rather than the living: and I judged him happier than them both, that is not yet born, nor hath seen the evils that are under the sun"… The Apostle too complains of the miseries of this life: "Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Epistle to Romans, vii. 24.)
From these testimonies, therefore, of Sacred Scripture it is quite evident, that death possesses an advantage, in freeing us from the miseries of this life. But it also hath a still more excellent advantage, because it may become the gate from a prison to a Kingdom.” (‘The more excellent advantages’ will be discussed tomorrow)
During my time at Taylor University, I attended an overnight field trip with my geology class near Turkey Run State Park in western Indiana in order to explore the rock formations, sink holes, and caves in the area. As the evening approached, we had to turn on our headlamps to explore one last cave. It was a small tube like cave that required crawling and conforming your body into whatever shape the cave demanded. As we approached the end, our professor told us that the forest was just on the other side of cave wall. He then pointed to a pool of dark, murky water on the cave floor and explained that we had to lay down and scoot through it while holding our breath for just a moment as we squeezed through a small hole. It was a bit terrifying, but each student, one by one, took their turn. I could not hear any students on the other side to encourage me. All I had were the words of my professor, but I trusted him and his program so I went ahead. Covered in muck, it was a relief when I felt the dried leaves on the forest floor and grabbed the hands of fellow students above me as they pulled me out of the crack in the earth’s surface. I was happy to arrive back to the cabin for dinner and a warm bed!
It is in this sense that we can call death ‘good.’ It is still a murky, dark, and terrifying passageway, but it is still a passageway and not a dead end. It leads to something good or rather, Someone good! Our Professor is ready to welcome us on the other side and the forest is filled with friends ready to pull us up into the Unseen Realm.
Everyone must pass through death and each of us must take our turn alone, but we are not alone. We can trust the Word of our Lord that He has made the way and that His presence is right there with us. He has transformed the dead end into a passageway of eternal life, and this is what Bellarmine means when he says that Christ’s death has destroyed death. It still exists, but it is no longer a dead-end, dark alley that leads to nowhere. Death by itself is great evil, but death that has been declawed and re-purposed into a doorway to the Kingdom is a great blessing!
Death also puts an end to our misery and the suffering in the body. Our world is wonderful, but it is also filled with much grief and heartache. For those who die in friendship with the Lord, they no longer have to suffer the reign of evil. Internally, they are freed of evil as their will is purified and finally united to the Divine will! “Not my will be done, but Yours.” Externally, Heaven is completely holy and free of any evil and so it brings us great relief. We are Home.
To conclude, death can be called a ‘good’ according to Bellarmine because 1). it has been transformed into a passageway to Life with a capital ‘L’ and 2). it puts an end to our miseries related to our very fallen world. Tomorrow, Bellarmine will give us a 3rd advantage to death so stay tuned!
Have a blessed weekend. -Kyle