Beyond the Bowl

"My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices;

my body also shall rest in hope.

For you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor let your holy one see the Pit.

You will show me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy,

and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore."

(Psalm 16:9-11)

When my oldest daughter was four, she had a betta fish that she named Curly. But one day it jumped out of its bowl. We found it still alive and placed it back in the water, but it was too late.

Hours later it hovered motionless at the bottom of the bowl and eventually became a belly-up-betta. We did a brief service by the toilet, at which my daughter sang and then cried. It was a solemn yet beautiful ceremony.

Poor Curly had decided it would push the envelope of its existence. Apparently, the proverbial grass looked greener on the other side of the glass. Obviously, it was not – it was the wrong environment for a fish. But our funeral rectified that as we placed Curly’s corpse back in water – the place of its origin.

As a result of this memorial, I’ve come to the conclusion that toilet bowl funerals are

quite suitable for fish in the same way that dirt funerals are appropriate for humans and

ground dwelling animals; it makes sense in the circle of life as we know it.

But while death may mark the doorway to dirt for human bodies and a segue to the sea for pet fish named Curly, I’m convinced that through Jesus, resurrection and restoration have entered the world—their presence incrementally and mysteriously rewinding and reversing the known order of nature. Now, in large part hidden, a quantum explosion of revelation will one day disclose the ways in which these forces have been at work in and through God and his people.

On that day, I believe fish will still swim in the sea, and humans will still walk on land, but the circle of life will no longer entail death in this new heavens and new earth. Life will abound undaunted by the boundaries now imposed in this decaying world. Why?

Because we are returning to the ultimate place of our origin beyond the doorways of death and dirt. We are returning to God, whose breath brought us into being and whose life will sustain us into eternity.

This returning, of course, involves exiting the aquarium, but don’t be afraid; Jesus’ resurrection assures us that beyond the bowl, a new body and a restored environment await those who believe and trust in him.

Darin+