What do we mean when we talk about “living on” in one
another’s hearts?
We certainly say it enough.
Thomas Campbell said, “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die”. If the content of our eulogies and obituaries indicates anything at all, then it seems we believe him.
Thomas Campbell said, “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die”. If the content of our eulogies and obituaries indicates anything at all, then it seems we believe him.
Taken literally, Campbell’s statement is categorically
untrue. Even if we firmly believe in Christian resurrection or some kind of
afterlife, we recognize that death creates a disconnect between us and those we
love that cannot be bridged this side of eternity. In the physical sense, dead
is dead. But that is neither what Campbell means nor what we mean when we mourn
using similar language.