7 December | Youth
«You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.» James 4:14
A skull does not speak, but its image says a lot. Despite this, anyone who wears a skull sticker, cap or t-shirt does not always know what ideas this symbol evokes. Paintings, drawings and even skull-shaped trinkets became fashionable in Europe in the first century, a period of crisis and war. The religion of the time, to insist on the notion of “immortality of the soul,” taught that life is short, and time, fleeting. A Spanish artist named Juan de Valdês Leal painted a picture of a skeleton holding a scythe in a dark room full of fallen valuable objects, symbolizing human glory, vanity and wisdom thrown to the ground. The painting is known as In ictu oculi (In the blink of an eye), a phrase taken from the Bible (1 Cor 15:52).
Using the Bible to support an idea, without caring about what the Scripture actually teaches, is more common than one might imagine. For example, Valdes' picture ignores what is written in 1 Corinthians 15:52. The text says that in the blink of an eye we will be transformed, at the time of the resurrection. In other words, it is not life that passes in the blink of an eye (In ictu oculi), but the afflictions, the pains, the sufferings and our existence as a whole. The same applies to James 4:14 or any other text intentionally decontextualized to satisfy the expectations of certain readers. The apostle explains: “It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. [...] But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:14, 16). Note that the author is reproaching the pride of those who make plans without God's approval; he is not philosophizing about the brevity of life nor praising the fearsome power of death.
Tempus fugit means “time flees.” In fact, for those who are mortal, life passes quickly; and this bothers us, because we were created for eternity, not for the grave. Therefore, according to the Bible, death is an intruder; it is “the last enemy that will be destroyed” (1 Cor 15:26). So, what sense does it make to spread symbols or promote beliefs that paint it as something fun, desirable, or “normal”? The next time you are tempted to watch a zombie movie or wear clothing with a skull, think about this!