869) There are things in life that I don’t want to think about; things that will happen and I have no control over it. For example, I know that my little dog is probably not going to out-live me. I dread the day. There are also people that are dear to me that may die before me and I’d rather not think about it.

This is not what Jesus does when He thinks about His future. He recognizes that His death is coming, and He knows how it will come and yet; he doesn’t avoid thinking or talking about it. Perhaps He knew that in its regular, healthy acknowledgement, it makes acceptance of hard things a little lighter. Perhaps regularly looking ahead is important. Matthew 16:21-28