Beloved Adel, Rest In Peace
By: Elias Bejjani*

April 29/2013

“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised". Job 01: 21)

In Christianity there is no death, but a transformation from death to life. Dear cousin Adel today you have been transformed from death on earth to life in heaven. May your Soul,  rest in peace beside the saints, angels and the righteous where there is no pain, no anguish or any kind of suffering, BUT only happiness and eternal peace.

May God give your bereaved parents, Jamil and Nouhad and the rest of your family and friends all holy graces of faith, patience, love and perseverance to cope with this great loss.

From Canada, Our family members extend their deeply felt condolences to Adel's dear Jamil and Nouhad and may God be with you in this very difficult time.

In such sorrowful and shocking events words fail to convey feelings of sadness and loss, while the only and only the means that makes sense are genuine prayers and prayers. Let us all pray and pray that Adel's Soul rest in peace, and that his parents with faith shall be able to cope and live with this loss.

How much of an awakening and spiritual realization would it be if each and every one of us attended a funeral at least once every year, and fully utilized this short yet precious and odd period of time to deeply meditate and contemplate the very human reality of this inevitable and irreversible journey?

Does any one of us, rich or poor, weak or powerful, sick or healthy, know when the almighty God will reclaim his soul? Definitely not! So let us live each day of our lives as if it were our last. Let us always be ready to face our Creator on the day of judgment with a set of righteous deeds.

Let us solidify our trust and faith in almighty God, and ask Him to lead our lives and grant us the graces of patience, humbleness, hope, love and forgiveness, so that we can carry with courage our life burdens.
Let us remember in the face of every difficulty and crisis what the Holy Bible teaches us: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." (Matthew 11, 28-30).

Death, this mystery that has worried, perplexed and confused man since his first day on earth, has been defeated by Jesus' resurrection and made conceivable by man's mind. We do not die, but sleep on the hope of resurrection! "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed", (Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 15 / 51-52).

To faithfully understand death it will be helpful and extremely insightful to read thoroughly what Saint Peter wrote in his first letter Corinthians 15/35-58:
"But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.  That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.  But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.  All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.  There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.  There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.  However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.  The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.  As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.  As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.  Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Background
Lebanese Man Found Dead at His Nigeria Home after Robbery Operation
Naharnet/ 27 April 2013,
Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour confirmed the death of a Lebanese citizen in Nigeria on Saturday, the state-run National News agency reported. “Adel Jamil Bejjani was beaten to death by unidentified men during a robbery operation,” he told NNA. Mansour noted: “Based on President Michel Suleiman's recommendation, we have contacted the Lebanese embassy in Nigeria's Abuja and we have been informed that Bejjani's body will be transferred to Lebanon on Monday.”“The embassy will follow-up on the investigation with concerned Nigerian authorities.” LBCI television had said earlier on Saturday that Bejjani was killed at his home in Nigeria during a heist operation. The same source elaborated: “The 29 years old man worked in the domain of hotel management in the African country for less than a year.”“He was planning on leaving Nigeria to reside permanently in Lebanon on May 5.”Attacks on Lebanese citizens in Nigeria have been frequent in recent years.On March 27, the NNA revealed that three Lebanese were kidnapped in Lagos, a rare case of expatriate kidnapping in Nigeria's commercial center. Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said the kidnappers have asked for ransom while the NNA did not report how the kidnapping occurred.

*Elias Bejjani
*Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
*Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
*Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com
*Mailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/.
*Face Book address http://www.facebook.com/elias.y.bejjani