Is Death Untimely?
Posted in The Historical Faith and tagged with Death, God, Life, Mozart, Sin on August 19, 2009
Did you know that I upon occassion listen to classical music? Primarily when I’m trying to write my novel. Maybe I think that listening to creative, well-written music will help me write a creative, well-written book. It’s couldn’t hurt, right?
Back when I played the clarinet, I’d also occassionally play classical music. The clarinet is fairly young as instruments go, but there was one classical composer that was fond of the instrument: Mozart. One of my favorite pieces to play was written by him. The fact that he was a genius and seemed to write effortless has always enthralled me.
So, when I saw an article on Mozart’s death, I had to read it. It’s not believed that his death at the age of 35 might have been from complications from strep throat. This then led me to contemplate…can one’s death be untimely?
Yes and no.
Yes, because I believe that all our deaths are untimely in the sense that we didn’t have to die. Without sin, we wouldn’t have died. Yet our choices have led to death, something that we’ve come to expect to happen later in life.
No, because I believe that we don’t deserve the moments we are living now. That’s not to say that I wish everyone dead, but to say that every moment God sustains our life is a gift. When that gift is up, it’s not “untimely” because it should have been up days, weeks, or years prior. Yet God graciously lets us live on.
And I thank God that He has allowed me to live another day.
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August 19th, 2009 at 8:36 am
ooo, I get to be the first commenter today! It’s only because I got up early. I think those are good thoughts! But what about the people who don’t consider life a gift? Are theirs untimely? Those who are ready to go…early even? Are the deaths of people who commit suicide “timely” or “untimely”? Just some thoughts that came to mind while reading your post :-) How’s the working 30 minutes more a day going?
August 19th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Elizabeth: I’m actually not working 30 minutes more, just 30 minutes earlier. It’s going well…I primarily wanted to shake things up to help me get into some good habits!
August 19th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I don’t believe our deaths could be untimely and I always cringe when people say that. (I get your point about sin being introduced into the world.) If God is sovereign and He does, in fact, know what He’s doing – then I can be secure AND AT PEACE (!!!) knowing that what GOd wills with our lives is GOOD. That’s the only reason I can rest at ease in relation to death. He knows His plan for each of us. Hallelujah!
August 19th, 2009 at 11:07 am
p.s. Congrats on your writing progress. ;)
August 19th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Did you now that classical music, played in factories, improves productivity? When I homeschooled various sons at various times, we always played classical music. I don’t know that it improved their productivity, but I like the atmosphere it created!
I don’t want to imagine the hopelessness of someone who doesn’t believe in heaven. We had a family friend who didn’t believe in heaven. She was 99 when she died. She was a giving, caring woman. She was always so cheerful. We are so lucky to have a God who is takes care of us, loves us, plans for us, and gives us so much to hope for. I would be such a grump without that!
August 19th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I know that death is not “untimely” with God. It really appears that way to us humans when we see someone die in the prime of life or completely unexpectedly.
Job 14:5 Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Death may not be untimely…but it still stinks for those left behind.
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August 19th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Beautiful post. I love classical music and I actually listen to it quite a lot. This topic is very hard for me and I still have quite a hard time sometimes deciding whether or not our deaths can be untimely. I do agree that each day and each second is a gift however it it sometimes hard for me to understand His purpose sometimes although I pray each day that He gives me the strength to accept things like death which I find hard to handle.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I don’t think deaths are untimely…everything happens in God’s time even though it’s not our preferred schedule.
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August 19th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
God’s timing is perfect – I believe that fully. But I do find the death of a child to be difficult to take in.
I listen Tchaikovsky to help me sleep sometimes.
August 21st, 2009 at 1:37 am
Having buried my own baby just a year ago, I have thought about this question a lot. Once I caught myself telling someone, “Angelo just wasn’t meant to live.” I had to call them back to correct myself: “Angelo WAS meant to live. That’s why he was given the life he was given, even if it wasn’t the typical circle of life we’ve come to expect.”
August 21st, 2009 at 9:56 am
This is a very interesting post, and a very healthy way to view life/death. I read that same article about Mozart. I think scientists are speculating that he died of Yellow Fever, a disease that was circulating through military hospitals in his area at that time. What’s so amazing was that even though he did not live very long, he left such a legacy. His gift for music truly gave the world a glimpse of God. (Not to say that he was a god, but rather that his genius was evidence of the existence of God, who I believe is the source of all talent.)