I’ve never understood why people follow those words with Rest In Peace, or RIP. Where do people get the notion that when you die you rest somewhere (physically? mentally?) and that you either rest in peace or otherwise rest in … what? War? Chaos? Unease? Disharmony?

No matter how despicable you find a person, when they die, can you just say RIP as a way to smooth things over in the last stroke? Does it say, “You were a horrible person but since you’re gone, I don’t have to worry about you anymore, so go. Go in peace, stay in peace. To recap: First, go and stay gone. Second, be in peace. In that order.” In short, “Peace out.”

Perhaps it’s the fastest way for people to express their condolences, but theologically speaking, it annoys me to no end. When I leave this earth, please don’t say “The Lady Patriot, whoever she is, Rest in Peace.” (Well, it won’t annoy me as I won’t be around to see it, but I’m telling you my preferences anyway.) Yes, I know we struggle here and when this life is over, we rest from those struggles. But most people I know who use that phrase use it in a way to describe a continual praying for someone to be in peace as if their after-life state depends on that. Wow, that’s some kind of power. I’m not interested in turning this into a debate of Catholic vs. Protestant or Biblical vs. Catholic tradition. Just know that when I leave here, I’m finally where I’ve always wanted to be, a place that I’ve longed to be ever since I learned of it.

I’ve been to some pretty cool places. I have the pictures to prove it. As fun as those travels have been, and as much as I’d like to escape my day job to return to those places, they all have their drawbacks. There are places I haven’t been but hope to visit one day. As much as they’re perfect in my mind, I’m sure if I stayed long enough, I’d see beyond the historical markers, trendy cafes and unique surroundings to the faults of its local government, dirty politicians, overpriced goods and frustrating transportation system.  No, for me, my final destination is Heaven, the Holy City, which is Holy because God dwells there. I’m only allowed in because Christ paid the way for me.  While I’m not looking to speed up my time here, I am excited about what’s in store for me (not because of anything I’ve earned, of course). As C.S. Lewis famously wrote in Mere Christianity,

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Oh, you skeptic, I’m not saying to grab your Nike shoes, a roll of quarters and meet me in a field somewhere to drink some lethal kool aid. I’m just saying that I won’t be lying in the ground somewhere, I won’t be resting (as in being still), I won’t be hanging out in an in-between world wondering where I’m headed next, I won’t be obliterated into nothingness and I certainly won’t be coming back as another person or living organism or inanimate object.

At the passing of Ted Kennedy, some people have asked whether Mary Jo Kopechne will finally rest. What? Do you really think she’s been hovering, in some frenzied state of unrest, waiting for Teddy to “get his” and finally absolve her premature death? If so, I have to ask you: where do you get your theories? Sheesh!

Let’s do a word test.

When you see a word, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? (It’s not free association because I’m not Freudian and I won’t be analyzing your answers.)

• Senator
• Presidential Candidate
• married
• not married
• scandal

You thought I was talking about Ted Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne, didn’t you? Nope, I’m thinking of former Senator and Presidential Candidate John Edwards and his mistress Rielle Hunter. Remember those two? Remember the scandal that was covered up so he could continue his campaign for President? Remember how the National Enquirer broke the story but Us Weekly decided to focus on the supposed “scandal” of whether or not Palin was Trig’s mother (yes, Andrew Sullivan, she is).  Rielle Hunter was able to keep living and bring her baby into the world. Now, I don’t know if Mary Jo and Teddy had an affair and I don’t know if she was pregnant. I don’t know these things because (a) I wasn’t there; (b) she didn’t make it out of a car that landed in Poucha Pond after attending a party with Teddy in Chappaquiddick off Martha’s Vineyard in 1969; and (c) her parents wouldn’t consent to an autopsy. This “unfortunate incident” may have ended Teddy’s Presidential hopes, but it ended the life of a 28 year old campaign staffer and her possible unborn child.

Yesterday, Ted Kennedy lost his struggle against brain cancer. 39 years ago, Mary Jo Kopechne lost her battle against air supply.

Had the “Chappaquiddick incident” never happened, I would think, “Oh, that Ted Kennedy, he’s so annoying.” But because of it, I think, “Oh, that Ted Kennedy, did he get it right before the end?”

It really doesn’t matter what I think about Ted Kennedy. Once he left this earth, he was no longer my concern.

Nancy Pelosi has already used Kennedy as a pawn to try to pass the health care bill. Rush Limbaugh said to use Kennedy as a symbol to remind people that despite his age and terminal cancer, Kennedy sought a do-what-it-takes, fight-to-the-end treatment and that all Americans deserve the right to go after similar treatments. One blogger said that if we are using politicians who have passed away to serve our purposes, then if health care bill proponents use “Pass it for Teddy!” the health care bill opponents can say, “Block it for Ronnie!”

All I know is, our battle’s not over. We’re still here. There will be no rest (physically, mentally) until the day we pass from here and enter the rest (spiritually) if we “got it right” before we left.