Today you will be with me in paradise.
—Luke 23:43
An elderly lady, who lived in a remote area of Scotland, had to make a government-mandated visit to Edinburgh. She worried herself into weariness prior to the trip, because she feared the long, dark tunnel the train had to pass through to get there.
As the train sped toward the city, fatigue caught up with the dear lady; she fell sound asleep, and when she woke up, she was in Edinburgh.
Death is an unknown journey; feared by some as a frightening, long, dark tunnel.
When beggar Lazarus died, he was immediately “carried by angels to sit beside Abraham in heaven” (Lk 16:22). Jesus told the penitent thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). Both show the immediate bliss of the departed.
You will go to sleep here and wake up there.
Death is the door that opens to paradise.