Dead Is Not Dead

Barb Sherrill — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 07:30:42 -0700

My friend and I have a saying about science fiction: Dead is not dead.

I wished I had remembered that before I got all tweaked about Derek Reese getting killed off on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Guess who showed up alive and well in last night’s season finale, thanks to a time-traveling John Connor?

Uncle Derek! Yeah!

Not all science fiction abides by the “Dead is not dead” concept, but a lot of it does. Sometimes it’s through time travel (as was the case with Terminator—travel to a time where Derek hadn’t been shot and, voila!, there he is). Sometimes it’s through technology (cloning, Replicator technology, and Cylon technology kept dead characters around on both Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica). Sometimes it’s through powers and forces beyond our human comprehension (I lost track of how many times Daniel Jackson came back from the other side on Stargate: SG-1). And sometimes you don’t know exactly why the dead aren’t dead, but you don’t care—you’re just happy they’re not dead (Lost!).

I think that’s partly why I like sci fi so much…because I dislike death so much. I hate the thought of that separation, of someone I’ve known and loved being gone. And, quite frankly, I hate the thought of me being gone someday.

Tomorrow we celebrate the One who was the originator of “Dead is not dead.” Through His resurrection, Jesus “swallowed up death in victory,” the Apostle Paul tells us. “O death,” Paul writes, “where is your victory? Where is your sting?”

The fact that Jesus took care of death is beautiful, miraculous, comforting. And I think it’s partly why I love Him so much.

Happy Easter. He is risen.

He is risen indeed.