there are galactic reminders
that birth and death are
not so very different.
‘before you knew my name’
tells us is this story in the
language of stardust.
stardust, the author tells us,
is the beginning and ending
of things. that which signifies
both death and new life.
Jesus is stardust. he signifies
to us that new life is possible.
new life, new mercies, daily.
before anyone goes criticising me
for heresy or theological inaccuracy here
take a look at the last book of the bible.
this book is John’s revelation of Jesus
and in this prophesy, Jesus’ proclaims:
I am… a bright, morning star (22:16)
I am… the Alpha and Omega
I am… the first and the last
I am… the beginning and the end (22:13)
… a star
… the beginning and ending
so, Jesus is stardust.
…
but today we’re not talking about
stardust. we’re talking about what
it signifies: death (and new life)
i want us to explore the
choreography of death,
and try to re-choreograph
our cultural narratives
into life-giving narratives.
…
when the scriptures speak
of death, there are two types
of death that come into question.
physical death
and
spiritual death
there is greater emphasis on
the latter, as we learn that living
for the flesh leads to death
[romans 8:13]
let’s begin by exploring physical death.
to do this topic justice, i need to acknowledge
the cultural portrayal of death on our screens.
we live in an age that has allowed us to be
desensitised to death and acts of violence.
how death is portrayed in cultural narratives
is important, because it shapes our beliefs
about death. we see Death personified in
ghosts, grim reapers, or demonic forces.
Death is often portrayed as an enemy,
an evil force in competition with Life.
Death is also explicit and implicit,
portrayed for dramatic effect,
predominately as a narrative device.
the issue with Death being leveraged as a
narrative device, is that audiences are taught
to emotionally react to death in a certain way.
ask yourself the next time Death is portrayed on a screen:
what are the screen-writers wanting you to believe?
how is death being portrayed? what emotional reaction
are they trying to evoke, through cinematic devices?
the great danger, and warning to heed,
is that cultural narratives and devices
will have you ignorant of their tactics.
be alert. be aware.
critically analyse
what you consume.
…
i don’t watch many death scenes or
action movies, but my husband
explained to me that for him, when he
is watching a show and it has a lot of
death involved, he has this understanding
or acknowledgement when he’s watching
it, that it’s for entertainment purposes,
or being used as a narrative device.
death? as entertainment? or a device?
this is what cultural narratives
want to shape you to believe.
death is trivialised, in order that you
may not weigh the truth of death.
when my husband watches an action movie, he
goes into it knowing there will be death portrayed.
he also goes into it knowing that nobody actually dies,
and that any death that is portrayed has been
orchestrated specifically for entertainment purposes.
he explained death
and fighting scenes
as choreography.
they have been
choreographed
for entertainment.
they are choreographed
similar to how a dance
might be choreographed.
they are choreographed:
for entertainment
for appearance
for dramatic effect
he said that the only exception to that rule
is for war movies, which is really interesting.
the difference is, war movies are not just
for entertainment or narrative device;
the deaths represent actual deaths.
war movies are often based
on real historical events, and
present and portray death as a
reality and a byproduct of war.
he describes that there is more
impact and association to death
scenes in war movies, that it
makes death more acutely a harsh
reality and a consequence of war.
any theatrics do not trivialise, but
portray the truth of Death as thief.
those (war movies) have been movies
that my husband says he is affected by.
(not all death portrayals desensitise)
for me, it’s different, because i struggle
with the portrayal of violence and death
regardless of the genre or type of movie.
i am not desensitised
i can’t have a objective perspective
on death scenes and fighting scenes.
i feel things too deeply, and haven’t
been exposed to enough fighting
scenes to have the stomach for them.
for me, it’s also a case of not wanting
to stomach them. i have no desire to.
i don’t want to be desensitised.
i don’t want to be exposed to them.
i don’t want to trivialise death.
i’m not okay with acts of violence.
they are not natural or normal to me.
i don’t endorse them, and so they are
not a form of entertainment for me,
in the same way that others find them.
i know many others in this world do,
and the intention of this post is not
to condemn those who do enjoy movies
that portray death. the purpose of this
post is to highlight the choreographed
nature of death in cultural narratives.
now let’s explore more on this topic
of physical death, and in particular,
the different types of physical death.
earlier this year, my husband and
i watched a controversial series.
we wouldn’t recommend this series and
didn’t particularly enjoy it… so i won’t
name it, but you may be able to guess it.
the series was a good wake up call to a
generation who has the tendency to
believe everything they see on social media.
what this series did bring about for us
was a deep, philosophical and borderline
existential conversation on death and grieving.
the context for this conversation was
there was a cancer-related death on
the show that brought tears to my eyes.
it really impacted me, unexpectedly,
so we ended up pausing the show.
my husband wanted to remark on the
tear-jerking scene, but more specifically,
wanted to reflect on why he didn’t feel
emotionally impacted by the death like me.
he couldn’t ascertain whether it was how
the show was portraying the events that
contributed to why he wasn’t feeling
emotionally moved by the death, or
whether there was another reason why
he wasn’t really “grieved” with the death
or passing of someone due to cancer.
arguably, a natural response to cancer
should be one of sadness and grief.
so what was it about this portrayal
that was preventing this response?
this question is what kick started a long discussion
on death after the show episode had ended.
death, no matter what form it greets us,
feels unnatural and uncomfortable.
death evokes pain, sorrow and inner grief
that may sometimes convert to tears.
in a journey to understand each other’s
emotional responses to death we tried
to unpack together different views on
death or different experiences of death.
we discussed the different types of death,
and whether our emotions differ if someone
makes decisions that enable or lead to death.
we decided to explore
death in relation to
cancer and suicide
because these are two types of death that both of
us has witnessed (either primary or secondary).
we wanted to understand each other’s exposure to death
in those circumstances and the emotions that were evoked.
the emotional realities of both of these types of death
can have different impacts on different people.
in both instances, we observed that the challenge
in both circumstances, is for those “left behind”.
we reflected on people that we’ve lost who are closer to us,
and how often the grief that we feel has not necessarily
just been for the person, the death, or the loss of their lives,
but it’s also been grief on behalf of someone who we do love.
we don’t like to see hurting and in pain,
and we don’t like to see Grief steal life,
destroy relationships or kill hope.
this led us to question whether we are only able to grieve
to the degree to which we are close to someone.
we realised that the closer we are to someone, the more that
their death or passing has the potential to change our lives.
we played out this scenario and it’s quite true.
the degree to which your life would be changed by
someone’s Death, informs your degree of Grief.
if Death disrupts your life, and changes your day to day,
then the grief you experience will be far more significant.
in other circumstances of Death, you may still
be sad, but it may not actually change your life,
there is more distance, emotionally and physically,
and that means a different process of grieving.
(for most screen portrayals of death, there is
this Brechtian distancing at play, which only
serves to desensitise us from death)
an example of a disruptive Death is a spouse or
close family members, because these are people
who you are closest with, and interact most with.
(generically speaking, of course this is not always the
case, and different families have different dynamics)
another example is those who we have such love and care
for, or who we look up to as a role model, who have
impacted our lives on a personal and heart-level. when
these people die, our hearts and lives are not the same.
we would not be able to function normally without them,
and would have to find new normals and new rhythms.
in our conversation we realised:
death, regardless of cause,
and regardless of proximity,
have the potential to awaken
new depths of ourselves.
a heart that has depths
capable of love and joy,
also has depths capable
of grief and sorrow.
…
Death is a gruesome reality,
too often glorified on screens.
but Death is also a beautiful
doorway to our hearts.
…
unfortunately, a lot of us aren’t
prepared for the reality of death
because of how it is portrayed.
when we see Death on a screen
it’s such a different experience
than actually losing someone
that you love who is close to you.
there’s no right or wrong
when it comes to grieving
and processing Death.
but i do want to give a cautionary
warning that cultural narratives
will try to influence how you grieve.
while my husband didn’t cry in that scene
that portrayed Death on a screen, that
doesn’t mean that he wasn’t able to process
the Death, and do the inward work of
reflecting on how Death impacts him.
this is how we re-choreograph
cultural narratives of Death
when we are exposed to them:
we recognise the reality of Death,
moving away from the choreography,
the theoretical and trivial portrayals,
and instead wrestle with the practical
connotations and circumstances in which
we may encounter Death in this world.
the irony of today’s cultural narratives, is
that we are over-exposed to Death, while
not being prepared for the reality of Death.
we are sold an illusion
of distance from Death,
which can lead us to a
false sense of security;
that, when threatened,
and when exposed to
the reality of Death, may
rip our hearts to pieces.
how to break the illusion?
i recommend having proactive conversations
about Death with your loved ones, so that
you can hear each others hearts and fears
surrounding Death, and also hear what may
or may not be helpful when hurting or grieving.
if you end up down the rabbit hole
of questioning why Death is even
a reality and truth in the first place:
the truth and reality i believe as a Christian
is that Death is not a natural order. it’s a
consequence of a broken world, a result
of the curse that came into this world
when we turned away from our Life-Giver.
Death was not meant to
have such a hold on life.
at the Cross we see that Death does not get the final say.
the resurrection power of Jesus speaks of a different truth,
and a different hope for us to hold in the face of death.
so, how do we re-choreograph cultural
narratives into life-giving narratives?
it’s time to start exploring spiritual death.
interestingly, visionary theologians see
the failure of religion as one reason
that our culture remains death-centered.
“Western civilisation has preferred love of death
to love of life to the very extent that it’s religious
traditions have preferred redemption to creation,
sin to ecstasy, and individual introspection
to cosmos awareness and appreciations”
[ matthew fox ]
this is a powerful quote, that evokes a reflection on
why our cultural narratives prefer the love of death.
might it be, that we have lost that cosmos awareness,
the eternal perspective that would allow us to
grasp Jesus as stardust, falling in love with Him as
the beginning and ending of all things, rather than
allowing ourselves to believe this life is all we have.
might it be, that the failure of religion has not been
a failure of institution, but a failure of imagination.
“the way not to lose hope is not to lose a holy imagination in the
ways of God. it’s a poverty of imagination that bankrupts hope.”
— Way Maker, Ann Voskamp
our hearts fail to hope
due to a lack of vision.
the vision of Jesus’ resurrection power
must be central to Christian narratives
if we are hold onto hope beyond death.
“if Christ has not been raised, your faith
is futile and you are still in your sins…
….if in Christ we have hope in this life only
we are of most people to be pitied”
[1 corinthians 15: 17,19]
the Church has a vital role to play in
choreographing narratives that are
centred on resurrection life not death.
“our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love
that does not show itself in protection from suffering.
the love of God did not protect His own Son.”
— Elisabeth Elliot
as Elliot captures, there is a cultural vision portrayed
that evokes a longing to be protected from death.
our culture is so Death-obsessed that we need
the heroine on our screens to sacrificially die
or for death to be escaped by a “near-miss”
to be sold the illusion that we as humans
have any control or authority over death.
doesn’t this narrative sound familiar?
Jesus sacrificially died. but the difference?
he didn’t have a “near miss” with death.
he actually died. and he was raised.
that we may not be found dead in our sins,
but saved by grace and through faith.
the cultural vision will have you believe that even
if the main character dies, they’re not really dead.
they want us to believe that we can be invincible.
but…. as humans, we have no power over death.
physically and spiritually
if anything, spiritually, our own
actions are what lead us to death.
when we turn away from the
Giver and Sustainer of life (God)
to the one who is committed to
taking and destroying life (the Enemy)
the consequence is spiritual death,
which is a brokenness in intimacy
and right relationship with God.
this is serious.
spiritual death means we cannot
possess eternal life in Christ.
it is a rejection, a rebellion
from the invitation to be saved
from eternal death and wrath:
“if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’
and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will be saved.“
[romans 10:9]
the reason our culture wants
to glorify Death is because
it distracts us from confronting
the question of what we truly
believe will happen when we die.
of course the Enemy wants
us desensitised to Death,
so that we may be lukewarm
and passive in the fight against:
flesh and blood
life and death
if the Enemy can keep us distracted,
then we become numb to the severity
of consequences of spiritual death.
but if we turn to the scriptures, we
repeatedly see, that there are parts
of ourselves that we must put to
death in various parts of our lives.
if we don’t, we will be met with
spiritual death, which has far greater
consequences than physical death,
which is the only death that the
majority of culture wants us
to be afraid and aware of.
we are told we have agency, a role,
in fighting against flesh and blood.
we are told we are to die to
that which holds us captive.
which means being alive
to that which frees us.
…
Christianity holds a truth about life and death
that is more compelling than any other narrative.
Hindus believe in an endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth that is
driven by karma, with the ultimate goal to break free from this cycle .
Buddhists also believe in the cycle of rebirth, with the goal to
break the cycle to achieve a state of enlightenment and peace.
Atheists believe there is no life after death, that death is the end.
the alternative narratives are either a cyclical view of existence,
or an emphasis on the cessation of existence that leads to
greater weight being placed on a life of memories and impact.
the difference with Christianity,
is that an eternal perspective
is applied to our existence
that holds weight over both:
life and death
flesh and blood
we don’t believe in karma;
we believe in eternal redemption
and the forgiveness of sins.
we don’t believe in reincarnation;
we believe in resurrection of the dead.
here is a life-giving narrative
to choreograph into your souls:
God spoke Life into being
he breathes grace into
broken, dark, deathly places.
Jesus came declaring that He
is the way, the truth, the Life.
Life is found in our Life-Giver.
while our mothers
birth us into being;
God birthed being.
God’s design for this world
was one conducive to Life.
when brokenness entered
the world, when we separated
ourselves from the Life-Giver
this is when Death entered the
world as a curse (consequence).
b u t
the curse was broken.
Jesus redeemed us from:
the curse of death
the sting of death
this redemption is a
deliverance from death
that both is and will be.
“the sting of death is sin”
[1 corinthians 15:56]
we do not have to be afraid of death:
because Jesus has made a way
for us all to inherit eternal life.
there are, however, commons misapplications
and interpretations of this scripture in song
and sermon. and that is the suggestion
(especially prominent in Easter messaging)
that death has been defeated or overcome.
Jesus has provided an alternative to
the way which leads to spiritual death.
but physical death?
i’m sure we would all agree
that none of us are immortal
(yet)
Death is still ruling this earth
stealing, killing, destroying Life.
and the sting of death (sin)?
i’m sure we would all agree
we are not yet free from sin.
b u t
we are free from the power and bondage
that sin has over us in Jesus’ name.
in 1 corinthians 15, Paul clearly
articulates how our deliverance from
sin and death both is and will be.
he details the resurrection; not just Jesus’ resurrection,
but the resurrection of the dead, the resurrection body,
and the mystery and victory of the Cross and empty grave.
“then comes the end, when he delivers
the kingdom to God the Father after
destroying every rule and every authority
and every power. for he must reign until
he has put all enemies under his feet.
the last enemy to be destroyed is death”
[1 corinthians 15:24-26]
sin and Death are still waging war in this world.
sin and Death is still claiming lives we love.
b u t
when Jesus returns again,
he will destroy death
once and for all. and we are
told there will be no more
weeping or grieving.
if you’re looking for more scripturally accurate
ways to frame the reality of Jesus’ victory,
here are two songs i love and have on repeat:
“now death where is your sting
our resurrected King
has rendered you defeated”
Forever – Kari Jobe
remember, sting of death = sin
what has he defeated? = bondage to sin
when we believe in Jesus as our
resurrected King, the Lord and
Saviour of our Life, we hold onto the
promise of John 3:16, that we shall
not perish (die) but have eternal life.
“the resurrected King, is resurrecting me
by Your spirit I will rise”
Resurrecting – Elevation Worship
it is by the life-giving Spirit of Jesus
that we shall be raised in glory
“we shall all be changed”
as 1 corinthians 15:50-55 frames it.
our mortal bodies must put on
immortal bodies. for flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
“and then shall come to pass
the saying that is written:
‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’
‘O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?'”
we are still awaiting the fulfilment
of this promise. when Jesus comes
again, to put all enemies under
his feet, the last enemy being Death.
b u t
we do have a declaration of victory.
we are more than conquerors.
we have been given
a life-giving narrative:
the way to eternal life.
in Christ and Christ alone.
to finish, lets talk some more about grief:
the reality is:
we cannot divorce
life from death.
many of us learn too young
this pulsing, throbbing, aching, breaking.
the reality of this world:
to greet Death as family.
to be acquainted
with her personality.
the shadow, the darkness
of her silhouette on our life.
…
Death is not considerate
of our timelines, our plan.
Death does not care
if your bucket list is complete.
Death comes like a thief in the night
stealing light from darkness
stealing breath from being.
how we learn
to process Death
how we grieve
can be complex.
perhaps we were acquainted with Death
at a young age, and didn’t fully comprehend
the significance of lifelessness where
there once had been a habitation of life.
or perhaps we were only greeted by Death
once we were an adult, able to process
the reality, while grappling with the why.
Death is provocative
Death is divisive
Death is definitive
u n l e s s
you hold a Christian perspective on grief.
Christians don’t see grieving and death as an end.
death does not get the final say.
so how do we approach grieving as a Christian?
grief is a natural response to this broken world.
there is moaning, weeping, groaning, pain.
grief is not to be shied away from.
as i already mentioned, it is a matter that
penetrates the deep places of our hearts.
Jesus too wept (the shortest verse in the Bible)
but in terms of how we approach grieving, there
are a lot of sayings that come in the face of death
that are meant to be well meaning, to support
others when they are in a time of grieving, like:
“they’ve gone to a better place”
but the Bible doesn’t actually say
that people go straight to heaven.
so it’s a false comfort to hold the belief that
others go straight to heaven when they die.
what the scriptures do indicate is that
those who die are asleep for a time until
Jesus returns for the second resurrection.
[check out 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18]
“but we do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers, about those who are asleep, that you
may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”
instead of allowing Grief to claim Death;
we allow Hope to rewrite the narrative.
why do we have hope?
there is a vast array of beliefs held
on what happens after you die, but
in Christianity, we have assurance
in the life and blood and resurrection
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
the promise we hold onto as a Christian
in the face of death: is resurrection life.
we have the promise that we will
always be with Jesus. to live is Christ,
to die is gain. we are never without
the Saviour of our souls, and the
one who has overcome the grave.
even those who are dead, for a time
while they are asleep, when Jesus
returns, those who knew him as their
Saviour and Lord, will go to be with Jesus.
and if being with God for eternity isn’t
enough of an incentive to have hope:
when Jesus returns, we are promised
that there will be no more Death or Grief:
“he will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death shall be no more, neither shall there
be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away.”
[revelation 21:4]
i’ve spoken of death before
how our deteriorating beings
echo of Death as a mortal enemy.
today i hope you will see that
in Christ, there is no fear in Death.
he opened up Victory.
claiming Life in his name.
Death may beg for life,
but Life refuses
to bend to her.
Life reigns
over the deep.
Life reigns
over the fear.
Life reigns.
…
to finish, i hope this post has helped
you see how we can re-choreograph
what the world tells us about Death.
what Jesus teaches us about Death
truly has the potential to transform
and re-choreograph our souls for eternity.
while a Death-centric society may want
you to be desensitised to Death.
remember that Death is a curse
a consequence of us, as humanity,
turning away from the Life-Giver.
we are not called to glorify Death,
we are called to glorify our Life-Giver.
Death is not an end.
Life has the victory.
Jesus has made a way.
Jesus is the way.
Hope is available.
Eternity is available.
your life was designed for
divine choreography
an eternal invitation into Life.
will you believe Life?
will you hold onto Life?
xx
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