“Any farmer who grieves over the burial of a seed needs a reminder: a time of planting is not a time of grief.”

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Beyond Heaven's Door (p. 29). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

No, I’ve never seen a farmer grieve over a seed being planted.  He understands the miracle when a seed is planted.

Max says, “Don’t you know that you will soon witness a mighty miracle of God? Given time and tender care, this tiny kernel will break from its prison of soil and blossom into a plant far beyond its dreams.”

Max later says, “A friend told me that Paul’s parallel between seeds sown and bodies buried reminded her of a remark made by her youngest son. He was a first grader, and his class was studying plants about the same time the family attended a funeral of a loved one. One day, as they were driving past a cemetery, he pointed and said, ‘Hey, Mom, that’s where they plant people.’“

He then says, “The apostle Paul would have liked that. In fact, he would like us to change the way we think about the burial process. The graveside service is not a burial but a planting. The grave is not a hole in the ground but a fertile furrow. The cemetery is not the resting place but the transformation place.

As a Christ follower, I love that thought, don’t you?

Yes, yes!