"We are but older children, dear,The poem that this quote is from compares a child's dreading of bedtime with an older person's fear of death. The imagery of this was very powerful for me.
Who fret to find our bedtime near."
Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, Prologue
We have a night-time ritual which is probably similar to most people's. We try to get our kids to go to bed and they actively try to avoid going to bed. I did the same thing to my parents when I was a kid.
As a parent, I know that my kids will be better off if they go to bed. We have bedtimes for a reason. They will get the amount of sleep they need, they will be able to awaken refreshed in the morning, etc. I think that if they would just listen to us as their parents they will be better off.
I then contrasted this with how much we (in general) fear death. And we mourn the loss of those who pass. This is natural, and I do not mean to diminish the sorrow that people feel when they are separated from loved ones. However, when I heard the words of this poem, I wondered if Heavenly Father views our passing from mortality in a similar way as we do to putting a child to bed.
He knows what is best for us, and He knows when it is our "bedtime." With an eye of faith, I think that perspective can help us to fear death less, and to be able to better accept the loss of a loved one. We can, with faith, accept the loving, guiding hand of our Father in Heaven in our lives. That acceptance can bring us peace.
Source: Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind: Literature's Most Fantastic Works
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