I was amused to read that a study done by an independent think tank had determined that because of the culture of gun ownership, geographic isolation and a number of other factors, Alaska is considered to be most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse. Good to know.
I’ve never understood the popularity of the whole zombie phenom. Or rather, I understand it, I just think it is a sad and tragic commentary on the secular humanism that is so prevalent in our country.
Simply put, modern secular humanism has trouble dealing with the mystery of death. Still, because human beings are comprised of a body and a soul, every fiber of our being cries out for some sort of reality beyond this present one. Rejecting any concept of life after death, and thus, the resurrection of the dead, inevitably leaves one bereft of hope. If all one can hope for in this life is what is before us, then the future is bleak indeed. As a result, any depiction of life after death becomes a caricature of the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting…reanimated tissue…the undead…zombies…ewwww!
Christ reveals a better destiny for humanity. For the Christian, while powerful in its unfolding, the end of the age is not a scary thing. Rather it is the fulfillment of all our hopes and deepest desires. To be a human being is a marvelous thing. We are body and soul. In the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come, we become what God has created us to be — perfectly human, body and soul. In this light, St. Ambrose actually speaks of death as a remedy rather than a curse, for it is through dying that we are born to eternal life. Sin separated us from God, but for the righteous, death unites us with God forever. The resurrection of the body is the completion of this reality and the fulfillment of our ultimate destiny of perfect communion, body and soul, with God.
The temptation is to see the resurrection as some distant future reality. But in truth, it is a reality unfolding in the present moment of the life of every Christian. Even now we are growing in communion with Christ and one another; and so even now we are becoming what God has created us to be. Thus, the Kingdom of God is very much in our midst.
May we have the grace to be people of the resurrection now, so that others may come to know the grace of God in their lives and enter into that same communion of Grace.