There was a scene in the TV series West Wing where the president’s advisers suggested to him all the reasons it would be best to replace the current vice-president in the run for a second term. The president disagreed. Why, they insisted. What does he add to the ticket? The president answered: Why? because i might die. The reality of death, inevitable for everyone, does not seem to fit into modern thinking. For believers, this life is merely preparation, formation, training for the fuller and richer life to come. St. John says in his epistle: I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life. Keeping our eyes fixed on the prize of eternal life shapes our actions today.
