The Dead Next Door

**The content of this post may be difficult for those sensitive to death and dead bodies. 

At about 1530 this afternoon I noticed a strange commotion in my neighbor's front yard. I peeked with curiosity through my window where I saw a crowd of men and women gathered around some form on the ground. They were throwing flowers over it, touching their foreheads, and then bowing at the base of the form. At first, I thought I was witnessing some form of puja (worship) or idol worship. It was indeed a form of puja, but when the space cleared I realized the focus of their puja was a dead body.

On Saturday, I took a small group to the four major tourist sights in Kathmandu. One of those sights is Pashupatinath Temple, the most holy Hindu temple in all of Nepal. This temple sits on the bank of the Bagmati river and is the site of cremation and Hindu ritual that carries the dead to the next life. I expect to see dead bodies burning and/or preparing for cremation when I visit this place. In fact, there were several bodies burning on Saturday. I sadly recognized my hardness to this sight of death when I watched the surprise, disgust, and intrigue of my visitors. It was then that I realized anew the significance of this sight. Before me were several bodies burning in the physical world. I watched. I prayed. Are they also burning in the spiritual world? Did anyone share the Gospel with them? Did they have an opportunity to know God? Only God knows. Still, it reminds me of the value of seizing every opportunity to share the love of God and His free gift of salvation.

Two days later I find myself face-to-face with this reality once again. Only this time, I wasn't traveling to a Hindu holy site. Instead, the dead were next door. What else is going on around me that I haven't taken the time to see?