The Mystery of Dying

It seems that most people avoid thinking about dying. It is the great unknown and full of mystery and is actually pretty scary. So for many, it is best to avoid thinking about it. At least until something happens in your life that makes it hard to 'not' think about.

That's what happened to me after attending my brothers funeral.

A few days after returning home I was watching a football game on t.v. and there were about 80,000 fans in the stands. That was when I came to a realization. Something I had never thought about before.

It struck me that in 100 years from now, most likely every single person in that stadium would no longer exist. Every fan, player, broadcaster, peanut and beer seller would have experienced death.

Not only that.

Every one I work with or drive by on the freeway or see in the movie theater will be gone. As will all of my family. So will every head of state, movie star, billionaire and beggar. Every King, President, and Prince. All of us--every person on earth will one day face the mystery of dying. Death knows no boundaries. Every person on earth, of every color, every religion, regardless of station in life--ALL of us--will confront the grim reaper. Some sooner and some later. Some violently and some quietly.

The human family also shares one other thing.

Nobody. Not one person can say exactly what happens at the time of that final breath. Death is the biggest mystery of life. What happens when the last breath leaves our lungs? When our heart beats for the final time. When our eyes glimpse that last ray of earthly light? When that final thought fills our mind an then is gone? Is it painful? Is it a relief?

Sure. There have been near death experiences. People have been clinically dead for several minutes and brought back to life. Some claim to see bright lights and a long tunnel. Some claim to be floating above their own bodies. Yet, is it really death if you come back to life? We will have to wait to find out. There is just no way of knowing for sure.

It was my brothers wish to have his ashes released into the water at one of his favorite spots. As I watch them drift on the surface of the ocean, I remember thinking. "Is this what it all comes down to? Sixty years of life. Of hopes, fears and the struggle to survive. To make something of ourselves? Are we ultimately just a handful of ashes?"

Actually, we are most likely less than that. We are nothing but a drop of water in an ocean of humanity that have come and gone for generations before us, and unless we soon destroy the earth through our own selfish stypidity, will come and go for generations after us. When we die, some will grieve, but the world will carry on as if nothing had happened.

Some people simply ignore thinking about their own eventual demise. Death is for Other people, but not for them. At least until it stares them in the face and demands their attention. When the time arrives that they finally realize their own mortality, some will attempt to cover all the possibilities of what death will bring. Of what the 'afterlife' might bring. In a frenzy, some will hasten to right the wrongs of their life. To atone for misdeeds that just might come back to haunt them. Some may even find religion despite never having had time for church on Sunday for most of their lives. Also, a few may even be nice to their in-laws for the first time.

Just in case.

Who do they think they are kidding? Whatever God you worship, give that God some credit. Don't you think that he knows every single thing you've done wrong in your life? Don't you think he knows every time you've brushed past a beggar without giving him a nickel? Or every time you have put something in your pocket you never paid for? Or every black thought that has ever coursed through your mind? And how about all those times you saw ads for donating $30 a month so a child in Africa could survive? Then decided that you could not possibly make a difference and anyway.

How do you know that reincarnation is not a possibility? Maybe you will come back as the beggar in the street or the African child in a mud hut.

None of us is perfect. We might as well admit it. It is pretty foolish to try and change who we are because we are on deaths' doorstep. We were never made perfect. I don't think we are expected to be perfect by any supreme being who may be watching over us.

Personally, I believe that our greatest test is just getting through everyday life. I have actually heard people say that Hell is what we all go through in the course of our every day lives and that we all will eventually end up in whatever our vision of Heaven is. Except for the very evil. I believe there is a special place for them.

I believe there is direct correlation between how we face death and how we lived our lives. For example. Who do you think feared death more? An inmate on death row guilty of the most heinous of crimes against humanity or Mother Theresa? It goes without saying that both in their own way have their own vision of what the after-life may have in store for them. I have a feeing the criminal was doubting he may ever see the long white tunnel, bathed in a bright healing light that would lead him to ever-lasting joy. In short, I would not have wanted to have been him as he breathed his last.

Death, like religion, or a combination of both, can be a discussion that goes on forever. Mostly because it is a real challenge trying to understand either. Also, because there is just so much that is unknown. More to the point, there is not one single voice on earth that can speak of what really takes place at the moment of death.

There is just one truth that nobody can deny. I don't care who you are or where you live. What you do or what you think. Saint or sinner, rich or poor.

None of us is getting out alive.