My daughter loved Fuzzy, her pet guinea pig. So when I found him lying on his side with his eyes open, I knew the news of his untimely demise would devastate her. “Fuzzy died,” I told her, “because it was his time.” She looked at me and asked, “What do you mean it was his time to die? Am I going to die, too? Are you crying, too, Mommy?”
We talked about life after death and how it has to do with Jesus’ death. Just as we have talked about avoiding perilous situations, we have also talked about the fact that death is a gateway to God, so we do not have to fear it.
The next night, my daughter dreamed that Fuzzy came back to life from death. He was wearing a white robe, a big graduation cap, and he was singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know.”
Let us all rejoice in the life everlasting!
Today we remember John Wesley, died 1791, and Charles Wesley, died 1788; renewers of the church. This message was adapted from “Fuzzy in Robes” by Kirsi Stjerna that appeared in the March 2004 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine.