I’m going to conduct a funeral service today for a family in town whose patriarch passed on this weekend. In looking for words of comfort to assure my audience their beloved family member is still alive and well I thought about my son’s hermit crabs he had years ago.

Hermit crabs are little critters that live in shells. They jet in and out to get food, but mostly stay in their shell protected from activity in their environment.

Hermit crabs also grow up. They get bigger, and in the process need bigger shells to live in. They move out of their “starter homes” into larger living quarters and leave the old place behind.

People passing on is much like a hermit crab moving from one shell to another. The physical body is a “shell.” We seem to occupy it for a span of earthly life, but like the crab is never part of his shell, we are never part of the physical body. We have spiritual being at-one with God that is not material. It is immortal. It never dies. The different shells may fade and disappear over time, but the identity of the one who thought they occupied the shell, never expires or fades away.

Life is eternal. It never ends. Temporal existence on earth ends, because this is not our final resting place. Heaven is home for every child of God, and we can be assured that regardless of what happens to a material shell on earth our identity and individuality as a child of God goes on forever in the realm of Spirit where all is well and healthy.