Death Is A Doorway

We live a short while on earth below,
Reluctant to die for we do not know
Just what “dark death” is all about
And so we view it with fear and doubt.

Not certain of what is around the bend
We look on death as the final end
To all that made us a mortal being
And yet there lies just beyond our seeing,

A beautiful life so full and complete,
That we should leave with hurrying feet.

To walk with God by sacred streams
Amid beauty and peace beyond our dreams –

For all who believe in the Risen Lord
Have been assured of this reward
And death for them is just “graduation”
To a higher realm of elevation –

For life on earth is a transient affair.

Just a few brief years in which to prepare
For a life that is free from pain and tears,
Where time is not counted by hours or years –

For death is only the method God chose
To colonise heaven with the souls of those
Who by their apprenticeship on earth,
Proved worthy to dwell in the land of new birth –

So death is not sad…it’s a time for elation,
A joyous transition…the soul’s emigration,
Into a place where the soul’s safe and free
To live with God through Eternity.

by Helen Steiner Rice