"There are shouts of exaltation in the tents of the righteous" is one of the verses from Psalm 118 that we read at graveside services where "I shall not die but live" takes on a new meaning for both the living and the dead. For those gathered to grieve it is a declaration of the hope of reunion with the one gone on before. For the one laid to rest it is the reality of life beyond the womb of the world that is as mysterious to us as this life must seem to the newly born babe. Since "we know in part" as we peer through "a mirror dimly" (1 Corinthians 13:12) everything we know about the next life can only be imagined from the context of this life. That is not to say we cannot confidently cast the vision of a future life without sorrow, sighing, tears or pain, a life where death dies and is buried forever. But the details of whatever is coming is beyond our knowing in the same way we could sense something on the other side while we were floating in our mother's secret place but had no frame of reference for what was coming next. Which is why the righteous live by faith and not by sight, trusting that the Lord who has made this day has made the next as well, therefore we will rejoice and be glad in all our days.
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