The wages of sin is death is an oft-quoted Bible verse to buttress the point that sinning eventually leads to death and hell, but is that right? Most Christians are fond of misinterpreting scriptures. The second half of that verse puts things into perspective.
I hate it anytime somebody stands up to lead prayers in church and proceeds to mention how some people are dead, in the morgue or on their sick beds while we are alive and healthy. Why can’t we pray without alluding to the dead?
I don’t know how people understand such prayers, but they always say that we the living still have the grace of God on us. That’s ridiculous. The dead did not run out of grace. Accidents happen, people die, and our health set up sucks.
What did Christ say when his followers asked him about the people who perished when a tower fell on them while they were worshipping God?
He said they were not sinners more than those who lived and that if we do not repent we shall likewise perish. So, why reference the dead while praying as if they had ran out of grace while we still have it? They didn’t. A lot of preventable deaths occur in our communities. Both the righteous and the unrighteous die. It’s natural. Live with it.
If we create a health ecosystem in which health posts don’t lack basic tools and equipments, health workers are paid commensurate to their efforts and we enable an environment of health consciousness that inspires citizens to take charge of their health, there will be less sick people in the hospitals and the morgues won’t get crowded.
Death is not a punishment.
It might be an accident (think people who drink and drive). It can be a respite from unbearable pain (think people battling incurable diseases). It can be a system failure (he died because there was not a single defibrillator at the hospital). It might be the solution to a problem (think Idi Amin dropping dead immediately he contemplated killing his citizens).
You can pray without insulting the dead.
