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From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Dear Rev. Graham: I have aging parents and the end for them is near. My father is strong of mind but my mother is frail of heart. They both believe that death is the doorway to Heaven and I hope that soon they can have peace in their hearts and be in the presence of their Savior and Lord. Is that a selfish wish on my part? – P.C.

Dear P.C.: When President John Quincy Adams was already out of office and 80 years old, he was met by an old friend who shook his trembling hand and said, “Good morning. How is John Quincy Adams today?” The president looked at him for a moment and then said, “John Quincy Adams himself is quite well, sir, quite well, but the house in which he lives at present is becoming dilapidated. It is tottering upon its foundations. Time and the seasons have almost destroyed it. Its roof is pretty worn out. Its walls are much shattered, and it crumbles with every wind. The old tenement is becoming almost uninhabitable, and I think that John Quincy Adams will have to move out of it soon. But he himself is well, sir, quite well!”
It was not long afterward that he had his second and fatal stroke, and John Quincy Adams moved from his “shaky tabernacle,” as he called it, to his “house not made with hands.”
To the Christian facing death, the earthly tent is disintegrating and has structural imperfections, but someday we will be given the title to a home that will never deteriorate.
Death for the Christian is the doorway to Heaven’s glory, and because of Christ’s resurrection, we have this hope of eternity in His presence forever. Death is merely the gateway to eternal life beyond the grave, and all Christians long to see their loved ones and friends join them in glory someday.
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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)