Cartoonology. There is great theology in cartoons and comics. Too many birthdays will kill you.

It is true, but the only alternative to growing old is to die young. Death is something no one likes to think about very much while at the same time death is all around us. When I was in college, I took a class called Death and Dying. I remember the pro essor starting the class o by asking how many students had ever attended a uneral. It was surprising to me that very ew raised their hands. I have memories o unerals rom my earliest age. I think the very irst uneral I remember was or my !randmother "rmstrong, and I still recall one song they sang. It was #arther "long. When someone died in the amily, we children were taken along or the uneral, and there were many given the si$e o our amily. We can approach death the same way we approach many other realities o li e% with determination, with resolve, with aith, with hope, with assurance. &esus gave us wonder ul promises. We need to claim them or ourselves through aith and surrender to 'im as (ord and )avior *&ohn ++,-+.-/0. I have known parents who shield their children rom unerals. I think it is a mistake. " healthy view o death is essential, and 1ust like most other things% it needs to be taught early on. Children are much more resilient than we give them credit or. Certainly, the biblical viewpoint o death is a healthy one. The "postle 2aul had such a view. 2hilippians +,-+ *34&50 -+ #or to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.