This verse was omitted by one Minister as being too macabre. Perhaps how you relate to it depends a lot on your age or your circumstances. Some people long for death because any quality of life they may have had has vanished; or because of unrelieved pain; perhaps unable to read or speak; but for others a cruel interruption in a yet to be fully-lived life. The children in France killed by a fundamentalist Moslem, the families killed by an American soldier in Afghanistan, the cyclist on Curtin Avenue in Cottesloe and the people whose lives are cut short by cancer or some other life threatening illness. Not everyone thinks of death as being `kind and gentle` or being an occasion for praising God.

But whether gentle or violent, slow or quick, none of us can escape – someone once said that there are only two unavoidable factors in life – death and taxes. When you get to be a pensioner you may not have to pay taxes any longer but the second factor can`t be avoided. In fact it is just as well that death is inevitable, for life for anyone would become impossible if the generations didn`t pass on to make room for the next one – perhaps an uncomfortable thought but maybe not so much in respect of ourselves, but for those whom we love and who if they pre-decease us we would miss so much. A friend whose wife died not so long ago sent me an article suggesting that it is possible to die from a broken heart – examples are given of people who have had a long marriage – one dies and the other follows soon after. Do you sometimes hope that you will die before the one whom you love so deeply? Maybe less painful than being the survivor.

All of these thoughts came into my mind from today`s Gospel reading and also from that of last Sunday where John reports Jesus as saying Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. In the same context he spoke of the great anxiety he was feeling about what lay before him – Now is my soul troubled – a very human feeling that would confront us all if we knew that we were going to have our lives taken away from us. He also mentions the hope that something would be achieved by his death – that being lifted up on a cross would draw all people to him. In that sense death has often got the potential to have something to balance the grief that comes – time and time again foundations are formed, charities established, in order that a particular life, usually under tragic circumstances, will go on having some positive meaning for others. A grain of wheat falling into the ground and from its death a new harvest can come.

It is impossible to get through this period of Easter without being confronted by the reality of death – not what could be called a natural death but one that comes as a result of influential people deciding that the only way to safeguard their position and power, or to preserve what they believed to be essential to their faith traditions, is to get rid of anyone who upset the status quo. Not for a moment do I believe that the death of Jesus was something demanded, or at least required, by God, before forgiveness could be offered to sinful humanity – even though there are plenty of words in the New Testament that suggest that is the real meaning behind the death of Jesus. The simple truth is that the death of Jesus was engineered by religious and political leaders who wanted to protect at all costs their privileged positions. The next part of the simple truth is that they won the first round, but their victory was short lived in that, in a way that remains for most of us a total mystery, the presence of Jesus continued to exert a permanent influence not only on his contemporary followers but on generations yet to come.

I hope that you haven`t found these reference to death too macabre. Albert Schweitzer, who certainly left a very good legacy of compassionate love behind him, said this of death – We need not think about it every day or every hour. But when the path of life leads us to some vantage point where the scene around us fades away and we contemplate the distant view right to the end, let us not close our eyes. Let us pause for a moment, look at the distant view, and then carry on. Thinking about death in this way produces love for life. When we are familiar with death, we accept each week, each day, as a gift. Only if we are able thus to accept life – bit by bit – does it become precious.

The Easter story is certainly about death but that is only part of the story for we can look at it with hindsight. Certainly there is much in the story about envy, hatred, cowardice, cruelty and brutal deaths but there is also a sequel – I suppose there are thousands of way of summarising that sequel but my summary is the love of God is revealed to be stronger even than death itself and that means that it may be possible to sing with a spirit of rejoicing

And you, most kind and gentle death, waiting to hush our latest breath. O praise him, Alleluia.

– Not because we are looking forward to dying but simply because if love is able to overcome the power of death then maybe Francis of Assisi got it right when he also wrote

You lead to heaven the child of God and Christ our Lord the way has trod. Alleluia!

– But above all else may the mind of Christ be so much in us that as we like seed that is planted in the earth help to bring for the generations yet to come a good harvest of love, peace and joy.