The death of John the Baptist is one of the more chilling stories in the Bible. It contains all the elements of tragic drama one can encounter in any era: adultery, betrayal, debauchery, jealousy; along with the singular courage of John himself.

The early Church saw striking parallels between the lives of John and Jesus. In Luke’s Gospel, there are such close connections that John and Jesus were related. And their respective deaths mirror one another.

It becomes increasingly clear that both men will, in the short run, meet death at the hands of weak men who are influenced by jealous enemies who cannot control their own demons.

It should be noted that by now, all people in the story, including Herod Antipas, his vengeful wife Herodias and their particularly unsavory daughter are long since dead.

Jesus, too, like everyone ever born, died. The question then is where is Jesus now and how does his work continue?

We do not regularly contemplate our own death; it is a matter we would just as soon put off – indefinitely if possible. It’s a private concern not often shared even with our closest friends, if at all.

But we are going to die. In the meanwhile, we have this present life. What do we do with this life preparing for the eternity which we are even now becoming?

Are we now developing the eternal life that is available here and will continue when we are no longer here?

No one is ever condemned to hell. We create it and choose it for ourselves. It would be the most ignorant act of our present existence to prepare enteral loneliness and estrangement from God. That’s a far more meaningful definition of hell than the somewhat juvenile image of fire – or as Dante chose to express it, an eternal bitter frozen imprisonment.

Death, however, does not win the final victory. Life does. Confidence in this victory gives us the courage to face the doubts, the fears, and the sufferings of this present existence.

We are not expected to save the world – that has already been done. Our contribution to the Kingdom on Earth need not be spectacular.

We are shaping our eternal reality even now in this life with the simple, but genuine acts of courage we engage in.

When we reflect back on our lives, we may be tormented by mistakes or sufferings that are part of everyone’s life. That’s a waste of time.

Eternity has no limits, no boundaries; even no location. It permeates all of existence. We are already partially within the embrace of eternal life. Stripping away all of the pettiness and shallowness that seduces and weakens us, we are made more productive and strong and every now and then are surprised by happiness. Such an experience has always been there, but we too often concentrate on the unimportant and miss the proverbial “big picture.” Very big indeed.

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