July 25, 2009 journal, perfect peace in life and death which questions tomorrow, absent the body present with the Lord. A relative is laid to rest and 80 butterflies are released. It is hard to put someone 6-ft under the ground even with all the beautiful flowers on top. The message was, this person is singing in the choirs of heaven already then they say the body will be raptured and I do believe in the resurrection. She died in peace on an early-morning with a window open and a witness but death is strange to me. It is ultimate sleep. Many scriptures are quoted in Christian funerals but not all connected as to when a body will rejoin the spirit. The soul is the life and God-given breath from creation. The Bible refers to many people that died and went to heaven instantly. When Christ was crucified, resurrected some of them were seen on the streets of Jerusalem again which is a mystery. The butterfly represents life and death then life again which is a form of the New Birth or even the resurrection. The Protestant Christian Church leaves a lot of loose ends in their doctrine while the Catholic Church appears to be largely bogus on their afterlife theology. A slimy ugly caterpillar worm curls up in a cocoon then hatches out a beautiful butterfly. Some of these were monarch butterflies and some of them lit on the casket spray flowers. It is really not clear in the Bible how the resurrected body will join the spirit in heaven or on earth. Some believe the soul will sleep until resurrection day. Yesu Christ the Messiah was the first to be resurrected. Dying seems to be as natural as being born. CBS Sunday Morning showed animals being blessed in a great Cathedral in New York City. God made the animals before he made man so I guess that's OK. I love animals and even sometimes pray for them. Some preachers are now saying they will also be in the rapture, if there is a rapture. I look for the coming of the Lord Yesu the one the modern church calls "Jesus", since the J was invented in the 17th century. It may not be meant for us to know for sure who we are and how it will all happen so long as we obey the Holy Scriptures in service. There are many theories but there is only one way to Heaven by faith in The living Lord. I do not know where to draw the line with the animals but I do believe Christ will return with 10,000 of his saints to rule on the earth for a thousand years and even forevermore. If he is returning with clouds of saints following, they must already be there for centuries. "Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:50-52). "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." (1 Corinthian 15: 42-44). The apostle Paul's famous anointed words from First Thessalonians Chapter 4 & verse 16 "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17-Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18-Wherefore, comfort one another with these words". We will no doubt orbit the earth like the astronauts do. This is the coming of The Lord to rule on earth for a thousand years even forevermore. Chapter 5-3 "For when they shall say peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape". Look up.