What is Death?

I have just watched Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  At the end Reepicheep leaves to go to the land of Aslan. He gets into his little boat and off he goes to the land of peace and joy not to ever return to this world, or in this case, Narnia.

 

Seeing this scene made me weep a little for it reminded me so of the poem below:

December is a pretty tough month for me most times It is the month when i had to say goodbye to my son and to my mother. 

After my son passed away, a very dear friend sent this poem to me, and over the years it has been a comfort to me especially when feelings of grief threaten to overwhelm.  When one has the assurance of salvation through Christ Jesus, when one knows that life on this earth is only a passing journey, and one day, we will all climb on that ship, there is hope. There is no fear of death, only the promise of a place more glorious than we can ever imagine.

 

I am standing by the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch
until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, 'There she goes!
Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the places of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
'There she goes! ' ,
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout :
'Here she comes!'