On Death

I was caught in a difficult position recently. My grandfather just died in Bohol, while I was already scheduled to go to Santa Fe, Bantayan Island to attend a youth group activity.

The activity in Bantayan excited me so much in anticipation; many wanted to go, but I was the one picked for it. But, at the same time, I wanted to at least see my grandfather for the very last time.

After wrestling with the issue for a while, I finally decided to go and join the group activity in Bantayan. Being a Born-Again Christian, I thought that my grandfather was already with the Lord, and that, maybe, God had a purpose to his death.

And yet while I was in Bantayan, my mind mostly remained with my grandfather's death. It occurred to me that there are various practices in the Philippine culture regarding death. I was particularly thinking of the differences, both in attitude and in mourning customs, even among Christians - between Catholics and the Born-Again groups. 

Among Catholics, wakes are held lasting for five to seven days and nights, and are still extendable if the family is waiting for some relatives from distant places. But my grandfather's wake only lasted for three days, because his children wished so.  

As is common at funerals, relatives of the deceased, including other people who join in the mourning, wear black or white. At my grandfather's interment everybody wore white, I was told. 

The Born-Again point of view is that upon death - if the person had already received and accepted Christ as personal Lord and Savior - he is already assured of eternal life. The nine-day and 40-day prayers and service are not necessary, no need to pray for intercession.

Born-Again Christians believe that there are two kinds of death: the Physical Death, which is the separation of the soul from the physical body, and the Spiritual Death, which is the cutting off of man's relationship with God. It is stated in the Bible that upon the second coming of Christ the "dead in Christ" shall rise first.

My grandfather was a faithful Born-Again Christian. I saw him live according to God's laws. That's why, even though his passing was sad for me, I trusted in the Lord's promise: "Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death." Isaiah 57:2