“To be or not to be” are words Hamlet spoke in Shakespeare’s play of the same name.  Hamlet was grieving for the loss of his father and suspecting his uncle of having murdered him.  It causes Hamlet (no surprise) to go into a tailspin.  At one point in the play, he renders a speech;  “To be or not to be: that is the question . . .”  He wonders if it is better to suffer in the world or commit suicide. If we die, we end the heartache. but, if we die, we must face “the undiscovered country,” that is, death.  What does death bring?  We spurn death, rather than face the unknown.

I have posed the question, “To be or not to be,  is this the question?”  Hamlet says definitely, “To be or not to be, that is the question?”  And, he has much to say here that make us think about our lives.  I would not trivialize his predicament.  Life is hard.  There are many “whips and scorns of time.”  Shall we make our quietus (death) as the solution?  Some people do, including my  great great grandfather who served in the army in the Civil War.  He was wrought with sorrow at the death of his son.

I would say death is not the solution, as hard as life can become.  The alternative is to live, knowing that God is present and will deliver us from the world’s woe in the end.  We could be nihilist, thinking that we walk toward oblivion during this life.  But, we are Christians.  God gives us hope in the midst of any ordeal.  Saint Paul speaks of faith, hope, and love in I Corinthians 13.  We have faith in God; hope that HIs purpose will be worked out; and love of God and others.  God’s love, he says, is patient and kind; not boastful, envious, arrogant, or rude.  It is not irritable or resentful, rejoices not in wrongdoing, but in the truth.  Love never ends and is greatest of the three.

“To be or not to be, that is the question.”  God has brought each one of us into being.  He would not have us cast ourselves into non-being in this world. God has given us being in this world and in the next, where as the prophet John says, “. . . God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7: 17b ESV)  Hamlet died in a duel with Laertes whom he thinks killed his father, Polonius.  Hamlet accidentally killed Polonius through a curtain, thinking that he was King Claudius, who killed Hamlet’s father.

When we witness and defend the faith, we need to extend the hope that is found in the Lord God.  He calls us to have faith in Him;  hope in His promises; and love for Him and others, even the enemy.  He calls us to speak the Word to others. Our own faith is forged by contesting “The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, . . . ” by abiding in Christ, God’s Son and our Savior.

Michael G. Tavella

November 19, 2024