I'm reading a book titled "Life in the Light of Death" and it certainly stirs up a lot of emotion. At some point, I will be dead and gone. With no evidence that there is a part of me that will outlive this process, I don't expect that I will. If I somehow survive my own death, I'll deal with that reality when it arrives.
A small bit on religion. I don't find any of its answers to life's questions satisfying, and it appears to me that it was created to help us deal with what we fear the most: the end of being. Beside me sleeps the person I cherish most in this world. I fear her death and also what my death would do to her. I fear it enough to consider, and sometimes desire, an afterlife. I could stand many more centu. But it will not be. We have this life together, and we will drink deeply of it while we can. And then it will be gone.
We'll be remembered for a time, but even before I read this book I started to consider how long that might be. I have a few memories of one great grandparent. The other 7 are just a few names that don't mean much to me. And their parents? I don't know that I could name any of them. Yet I am only here because each of them existed. They should matter more to me, but I also can hardly remember my own kids names half the time. In 100 years, I will have suffered the same fate. Perhaps my descendants will read this blog. But they won't know me. They won't know my laugh or how I choke up when I speak in front of groups , or why I am a Browns fan. I will be gone, and that is okay. So unless I end up doing something truly amazing, I'd expect to fade from memory within those 100 years.
This may seem bleak and depressing to you. So why write it? It is for me to collect my thoughts and sort through them. If they stir up anything inside you and we talk about it, thats just a bonus. Without religion to calm this fear, I must face it head on. We all must, to some degree, as no one actually knows what happens when we die. You may hope for something, or believe it to be true. But none of us knows.
I wouldn't be offended if you shared with me your ideas on eternal life. I've considered it, dwelled upon it, and believed in it most of my life. Desiring it kept me attached to religion long after I stopped believing it were true. But I never mind talking about it, so if reading this causes you to offer your insights, feel free.
As a teacher, I don't get into talking to my students about religion. (This is a shame, because I feel a world religion class would be a benefit to most, including me). The closest I get is talking to them about our star some day dying, and prior to that growing so large that it swallows the earth. This terrifies them. "Are you saying we are going to die?" Even when I say don't worry, thats billions of years from now. I can still see some terror, as maybe for the first time, they consider that they too will die. Fear not, my young learners, it is the fate of us all!
Morning approaches. another chance to be alive. And I will enjoy it. See ya soon.
