This picture, taken by truck driver Paul Vasquez at an accident scene in Kentucky, was posted on Facebook and has gone viral. The snap appears to show an apparition above the bustle of EMTs below, causing speculation that the photo captured the spirit leaving the crash victim’s body.

I would agree that the photo does appear to show a silhouette of a man but the report says the victim died later in the hospital from this motorcycle accident.  Whether this was the actual spirit of the victim, a guardian angel, or just a play on light, we will never know.

Still, whenever I see these types of photos, I get a shiver of excitement over the smallest material evidence of the human spirit. And apparently others do as well. For me personally, any tangible proof, even unverified, immediately serves to remind me that I am just passing through this life in this shell of a body.

And as someone who has recently lost someone very dear to me, it gives me comfort. It gives me hope. Hope that life does not end in death and comfort that all a person stood for, wished for, dreamed for, hurt and laughed for, is not lost in some cosmic cruel joke. For those of us who are sick, dying, or just tired and trapped in our earthly vessel, there is reason to hope.

Death is a certain reality for us all. God is clear that our time here on earth is short, indeed. “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)

Although the fear of dying in some painful way is a real one, it shouldn’t be for a Christian. “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Cor.5:8)