Often in ministry to the dying, and to the families of the dying, we use a phrase to describe the emotions that people go through because there is a painful awareness that a moment of departure is looming heavily in the not too distant future. It's called "anticipatory grief." It was a real "duh!" moment for me when I first heard it. In our humanness we anticipate the upcoming death of a love one and we begin the grieving process before the event takes place. As quickly as it sounded new and foreign to me it made total sense. I immediately felt right at home using it as part of my working vocabulary as a hospice chaplain.
There is another human emotion I have begun to realize exists that also looks forward to the same event but with such an "out of this world" different perspective. It is called anticipatory joy. It springs from the well of knowing in one's heart that life here on earth is our temporary home. That it's not where we belong. That it's just windows and rooms that we're passing through (Yes I did steal/borrow some lyrics here).
A couple of weeks ago I left a Pt's home feeling like I had somehow upset the natural order of things, I found myself leaving the PT feeling like I left with more than I had brought. It was because of anticipatory joy. As I reflect back my experience, I cannot help but remember one of the smirks that john Belushi was so noted for with his raised eye brow. When I was finished visiting with the Pt I asked how I could pray for him. With such sincerity and humility this man who had little voice left asked, "pray that Jesus comes for me soon, . . . very soon!" And with that he threw one of those, you just had to be there, John Belushi looks at me followed by a smirk and a smile. You couldn't help but want to burst out laughing about it as you heard the words and saw him do it. I was so blessed to be in the presence of someone who loved Jesus so much he felt the freedom to joke about his own imminent death.
How courageous and peace filled are those who have such a faith in the promises of God received through Jesus. They are the ones who face the end of life knowing that they are not defined by having had a body of flesh but rather by being a permanent spiritual individual created with a unique identity all intended for eternity with God. They know they are made in the image of God and are reconciled to him by faith in Christ. They know the deeper their intimacy and love for Christ the more prepared and anxious they are to be in a fuller presence of Him. They are ready for the metamorphosis!
Yes they are ready for death because it has been conquered for them by Jesus on their behalf. They face their last breath with a fearless expectancy of what lays ahead: an end to their struggles and sufferings, a threshold to step through, a continuation and further manifestation of what they became the hour they first believed: a new creation in Christ They truly know understand and trust that to be absent from the flesh assures them to be in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Anticipatory Joy! It is a contagion of the redeemed!
