In the end there is only death. As opposed to times like the present, where we generally divert our attention over a few different, on-going, issues—like the bills, groceries, planning meals for the night/week, work issues, and all of the relationships we maintain with family and friends. But in the moment when Death comes to collect, all of those other issues that we concern ourselves with will matter. We will all be confronted with having to leave this world behind and address our fate. And while all of us will come to know that moment, still the majority of us have made no preparation for it. Maybe even worse still, most of us don’t even consider the moment at all and would rather avoid thinking about it altogether.
We cannot be afraid of death. Doing what we can in this life to ensure a place in paradise in the hereafter is only part of it—doing that is ensuring that you’re not afraid of being dead—but preparing for the moment isn’t so easily done. That’s not to downplay salvation, but we as humans spend our entire lives cultivating our lives. We do our best to secure a job that affords us a lifestyle that we can be comfortable in. We try to find friends and companions to enjoy that life with. We fill our homes with possessions that mean something to us whether it be in terms of functionality or keepsakes; and on and on that list of things goes, but sooner or later we’re all going to have to let it all go. More than that, we’re going to have to give it up. And yet still we make no attempt to prepare our souls that. I’m not talking about coming to grips with leaving your dragon’s horde of life-long accumulated treasures behind, I mean that we’re not doing anything to prepare for the absolute certainty of confronting the reality of death.
Just as a prize fighter enters into a training camp to get ready for a bout, we too must “train” with the intention of doing battle with death so that when the time comes, and your time here is complete, you can move forward into that battle comfortable with what comes next and confident that we can greet the moment knowing we’ve prepared ourselves entirely for it; and not meeting it meekly and afraid.
“To die would be an awfully big adventure”
Personally, I’m not an expert on it. But I do consider the reality of death daily (in fact, quite a few times a day) to prepare myself for the moment—since none of us knows when the time is to come—so that when it does, I’m not emotionally unprepared and in pain about it. We all wish that we could have been better prepared for so many (less important) things in life and still neglect this approaching absoluteness. It’s time to stop living like this will go on forever for you. That’s not a doom and gloom statement, quite the opposite really. It’s more of a trigger to embrace life, daily. To wake up ready for what today may bring, with no fear of death, because if death were to come to collect, we’ll be ready to greet it with a smile knowing that we have prepared for the moment. The goal isn’t to become emotionless towards death, but to be able to be so in control of our emotions that when it comes time to die, we’re unafraid and are capable of applying an emotion to the reality of the situation that we—as individuals—would be proud of. What emotion that is exactly is up to you. I look forward to sharing a beer with you and talking about it should our paths ever cross.
