Many people are scared of death. But doesn't that seem odd?
Death: the 'ultimate statistic', the one thing that every living thing can be certain will occur to it, must surely be analysed as the most natural thing that can happen to us, since it happens with so much more certainty than anything else in life.
But for some reason, something that we could call natural, feels quite unnatural. Most people put great effort into avoiding it for as long as possible. It is currently still considered a taboo subject in England.
Does this unnatural feeling perhaps point towards a built-in part of ourselves that knows it was never meant to die?
When Hollywood presents a character that lives forever, there is usually the standard set of drawbacks for that poor individual, such as having to live through all of the deaths of their friends and family, and maybe even several spouses. The big screen message can be "you may think you want to live forever, but look at how painful it would be." This view is not relevant here, however, since I am talking about the entire human race, not a single person that is forced to leave the rest of the world behind. If it was normal for nothing to die... Doesn't such an image draw you to it as if it were home?
I once shared with a friend, who agreed with me, that instead of reacting to the idea of death with fear, we each had what we called the "christian version of suicide". Now that probably sounds quite grim or weird, but it was simply for a lack of words at the time. But what we meant by it was this- we're looking forward to what happens after death more than anything that happens before it. At the same time, however, we aren't intending to do anything to get there quicker.
This idea isn't about running away from this life, like suicide. It's more like knowing that the next life will be so awesome, that fear just doesn't come into it.
In the meantime, we are happy to allow this life to run it's course. The end of life will be more and more exciting, like getting closer to the front of a queue for something we've wanted for so long! The only kind of fear present is a nervous excitement, because we know that we cannot yet imagine how good it will be!
A positive response seems, to me, like a far more appropriate, and natural, response to the only certain thing I know will happen in my lifetime.
See a short story about Death...
Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/piper/146556/
