This is an important topic for me. I see so many people running scared from the inevitable end of their lives. They are so afraid of it that they build every safeguard against it and construe it the ultimate evil.
As I've said before, I have suffered childhood trauma that most don't understand. I'm not here to go into that. Just trust me, you'll never fully understand it and thank God for that. But one thing it did for me was create an outlook that is very familiar with my own mortality, powerlessness, and pain. While many shy away from thoughts of death, they are my very familiar companion.
Here's what I've learned and come to beleive. I offer it to help you come to a truer understanding of your life and death.
Fact: You will die, so will every single pet you own, your parents, lovers, children, friends, neighbors, and every single other living thing on this planet.
Fact: None of us know when that will be. A million things could bring your life or that of any other person to an end before we finish the next breath. It also may not come for many years. But we have no guarantee. Any sense of security that you can influence this is a false hope.
That's not to say you shouldn't take care of yourself. Not at all. Failing to care for yourself will make your life and death more miserable. I'm just pointing out that no matter how well you do that, you are not guaranteed any results.
Fact: The fear of death is not a permanent condition. Hear me well in this. I'm not talking about lack of survival instinct, self-preservation, etc. If those are turned off, you are suffering a mental illness and you need treatment. Despair is not a natural condition and can be helped. I'm serious. I've been in that state too. But the fear of DYING is not universal nor permanent. While I have a very active, hyper-active actually, sense of self-preservation which has enabled me to survive what I did, I have no fear of death. None. Not even a little. If you know me well you know this.
I'm not a daredevil, adrenaline junky. I wear a seatbelt and look both ways before crossing the street. In fact, my hyper-vigilence actually makes it hard to sleep because I'll be on my feet if a rat sneezes in another room...literally, I have a pet rat. So trust, me, I've spotted three potential threats before you've considered a possibility of danger. But at the same time, I do not grasp the persistent fear of death that many have.
Fact: Dying makes way for the living. There's only so much space, resources, atoms to go around. They cycle. I'm an ecologist. I have seen it firsthand. What dies feeds the living and keeps the cycle going. When you prolong your life beyond it's useful length, you do nothing but take up increasing amounts of resources and add burden to those who care for you. I know this sounds harsh. I'm not wishing your grandma to die. I'm just stating a naked fact. Most of us who read this will be fortunate to live in a place where there is enough to spare. But In many places now and in history, resources were so scant they had to face these decisions. Who gets to eat? In fact in some native american societies, it was expected that when someone became too old and weak, they were given a stock of supplies and would voluntarily be left behind to die.
So given all this, what have I come to believe?
First, death will be the end of all your struggles, worries and even fear of death. Either because you will cease to exist, or, as I believe, you will be in another world beyond it. Therefore, it can be a comfort to know that one day it will all end. Perhaps you have such a good life that you don't want it to end. To which I say you are acting like a child who doesn't want to leave the theme park. It WILL end. It MUST. Trying to stall for 5 more minutes, and 5 more is foolish.
Second, dying with dignity and peace is valuable. To face the inevitable in a sniveling clutching tear for life that can't be sustained is deplorable. Walk on at peace. I believe you'll ease your transition to the next world. But if nothing else, don't leave that impression on your loved ones. When your time is over, even if that means nothing after, make it easier on those whom you leave.
Third, dying says absolutely nothing about the nature of God or the universe. Only your fear requires you to interpret it this way. But if you knew that you were merely a seed, a larval human in this form and that death was simply your metamorphosis, what evil is there in that? It is simply your gateway to the next stage in your development.
Of course many will say there is no evidence for this. You are right that science can't prove what happens after. But you are wrong that there is no evidence. Remember life exists for us only as mediated through our experiences. And many many people in all generations across all cultures share experiences of something beyond. I believe this is also evidence. But if you refuse it, so what if that is only a mass common delusion. If that is all, then what does it matter? If nothing else, your experience of the power-down is likely to be pleasant.
In conclusion, this probably won't sway you from your opinion. You will have convinced yourself you are right and are free to continue living in that fear, as rationalized as you may have made it. But if you are wondering, suffering with these thoughts, I am standing here with an open hand and offering you another way.
You need not fear death. I don't. I'm not alone in this. You don't have to either.
