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| Forgotten and unwanted in death |
Death is not only ugly, it's often a cruel tragedy, especially when it involves someone who nobody seems to know or even care about. For nearly two years, the body of the unidentified man pictured above has laid unclaimed in Chicago's Cook County Morgue.
As you can see, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office decided to post his picture online, hoping that a relative, friend or acquaintance will recognize him and come in to claim his body so that he can finally be laid to rest.
Predictably, the Medical Examiner's office has taken some major heat for publishing this man's picture along with the photos of two other deceased persons whose identities are unknown. And most likely, I'll take some heat as well for publishing the photo of a dead man's face.
But I didn't publish his picture to attract attention or to get cheap thrills. I published his picture because no one should be forgotten and unwanted in death. No one should be left abandoned in a morgue for nearly two years in the midst of the rotting corpses of gang-bangers, drug addicts, homicide victims etc.
Whoever this man was, he was created in the image of a Holy God. (Genesis 1:26) He, like countless others who lay forgotten and unwanted in morgues throughout the world, was a real person who had a life and an identity before he met his end.
We don't know what he was like in life, although there are people out there who surely knew him. Maybe he was bad. Maybe he was a loser who dropped out of school at an early age; never had a decent job, got into trouble with the law and drifted in and out of prison.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe he was a successful man who had a family that still doesn't know what ever happened to him. When he was found on Chicago's Northwest Side on September 15, 2011, he had no identification on him. Perhaps his life and his memories were just a short distance away in a home, condo or apartment building.
Those who cringe at the sight of a dead man and will criticize me for posting this man's picture don't like to see death because it reminds them of their own mortality. They don't want to deal with that because in reality, they're terrified of what comes after death. If they've never confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and received God's free gift of salvation by faith in Christ's death for their sins on Calvary's cross, (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-11) then they should be concerned about their eternal fate.
But for those of you who have truly been born again by faith and know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you shouldn't be afraid of death. And when you see a man such as the one pictured above, you should be concerned that he was a human being who seems to have been long forgotten and is unwanted by anyone while he lays in death.
And that's a tragedy. If you recognize this man, then contact the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office at cookcountygov.com. Because despite whatever he may have been in life, he was still a human being who was created in God's image. And he deserves better than being forgotten, unwanted and left all alone in death.
But I didn't publish his picture to attract attention or to get cheap thrills. I published his picture because no one should be forgotten and unwanted in death. No one should be left abandoned in a morgue for nearly two years in the midst of the rotting corpses of gang-bangers, drug addicts, homicide victims etc.
Whoever this man was, he was created in the image of a Holy God. (Genesis 1:26) He, like countless others who lay forgotten and unwanted in morgues throughout the world, was a real person who had a life and an identity before he met his end.
We don't know what he was like in life, although there are people out there who surely knew him. Maybe he was bad. Maybe he was a loser who dropped out of school at an early age; never had a decent job, got into trouble with the law and drifted in and out of prison.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe he was a successful man who had a family that still doesn't know what ever happened to him. When he was found on Chicago's Northwest Side on September 15, 2011, he had no identification on him. Perhaps his life and his memories were just a short distance away in a home, condo or apartment building.
Those who cringe at the sight of a dead man and will criticize me for posting this man's picture don't like to see death because it reminds them of their own mortality. They don't want to deal with that because in reality, they're terrified of what comes after death. If they've never confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and received God's free gift of salvation by faith in Christ's death for their sins on Calvary's cross, (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-11) then they should be concerned about their eternal fate.
But for those of you who have truly been born again by faith and know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you shouldn't be afraid of death. And when you see a man such as the one pictured above, you should be concerned that he was a human being who seems to have been long forgotten and is unwanted by anyone while he lays in death.
And that's a tragedy. If you recognize this man, then contact the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office at cookcountygov.com. Because despite whatever he may have been in life, he was still a human being who was created in God's image. And he deserves better than being forgotten, unwanted and left all alone in death.
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