I am the uninvited guest.
There are two occasions in your life when you wish I didn’t come to claim my pound of flesh. When your hatred of me, and your fear, simmers and threatens to consume you.
The first is when I come to claim the life of someone you love.
The second, when I come for you.
It is at these moments that I am most unwelcome to you. How you wish my gnarly hand knocked on someone else’s door!
Why do you fear me so?
You see me as the end. The beginning of never ending darkness, beyond which lies oblivion and nothingness.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
From the moment you are born, you begin your slow and inexorable walk towards me. One day at a time.
I find it strange that you would fear me and cling on to life. When life brings you pain and sorrow and grief, and I bring you rest.
If you’d only stop resisting and let me guide you, you’d see that the story continues.
A better story. In a better world. And I am the doorway to it. You have to pass through me to get there,
I am but a bridge. A boatman to ferry you to the other side.
Don’t make me out to be some kind of an executioner, with a hook for an arm.
I’m kinder than you imagine. Without the merciful release I offer you would have floundered in an eternal morass of desolation.
Without the rest I give you, life would be insufferable.
My presence makes life livable.
But I can’t do it without you. You have to meet me halfway.
Live life so that there are no regrets.
No fear of judgement.
No dread of what lies beyond.
Think instead of the joy that will fill your heart to overflowing when you meet long gone loves, and affections that slipped out of your tightly held grasp.
All you need to do is to live a life filled with regret. Live your dreams. Use every talent that you have so that when you land at your Maker’s feet, you can truthfully say, I used up everything you gave me.
I hope you believe in your Maker.
There are two occasions in your life when you wish I didn’t come to claim my pound of flesh. When your hatred of me, and your fear, simmers and threatens to consume you.
The first is when I come to claim the life of someone you love.
The second, when I come for you.
It is at these moments that I am most unwelcome to you. How you wish my gnarly hand knocked on someone else’s door!
Why do you fear me so?
You see me as the end. The beginning of never ending darkness, beyond which lies oblivion and nothingness.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
From the moment you are born, you begin your slow and inexorable walk towards me. One day at a time.
I find it strange that you would fear me and cling on to life. When life brings you pain and sorrow and grief, and I bring you rest.
If you’d only stop resisting and let me guide you, you’d see that the story continues.
A better story. In a better world. And I am the doorway to it. You have to pass through me to get there,
I am but a bridge. A boatman to ferry you to the other side.
Don’t make me out to be some kind of an executioner, with a hook for an arm.
I’m kinder than you imagine. Without the merciful release I offer you would have floundered in an eternal morass of desolation.
Without the rest I give you, life would be insufferable.
My presence makes life livable.
But I can’t do it without you. You have to meet me halfway.
Live life so that there are no regrets.
No fear of judgement.
No dread of what lies beyond.
Think instead of the joy that will fill your heart to overflowing when you meet long gone loves, and affections that slipped out of your tightly held grasp.
All you need to do is to live a life filled with regret. Live your dreams. Use every talent that you have so that when you land at your Maker’s feet, you can truthfully say, I used up everything you gave me.
I hope you believe in your Maker.
If not, I guess you can be prepared for the adventure that lies beyond.
The grave is not meant to be a dead-end.
And the heat of the pyre cannot destroy that which is truly worth preserving.
There are things that I have no control over, and these things will continue to be long after your body is one with every atom of nature.
The things that will matter when your whole life flashes before your eyes.
Make sure that vision is worth seeing.
Until then, live. To the fullest.
And don’t forget that I am coming.
The grave is not meant to be a dead-end.
And the heat of the pyre cannot destroy that which is truly worth preserving.
There are things that I have no control over, and these things will continue to be long after your body is one with every atom of nature.
The things that will matter when your whole life flashes before your eyes.
Make sure that vision is worth seeing.
Until then, live. To the fullest.
And don’t forget that I am coming.
Someday.
I was dreading reading it. But then I did and I loved it. You are brave Cynthia I love each and every post here. :)
ReplyDeleteFantastic post just as the other 3. Strangely even I have written about Death today, but from the other side of the fence. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://totallyinternalreflections.blogspot.sg
Wow Cynthia. I can't wait to meet Death after reading this! ;)
ReplyDeleteReally, you have done a good job on this one (as usual)!
Who would have thought that death colud ahve so much to say....Thank you Cynthia for writing this
ReplyDeleteEveryday I look forward to read your posts. I love savoring each and every thing of what you have got to say and you know you say it beautifully.
ReplyDeleteYou continue to amaze me Cynthia. Not only are your posts deep;y insightful but because the are so ME. I never thought of death as an end. To me death is your chance to wipe the slate clean and begin all over again... with a little more wisdom, with a little more clarity, with a lot more patience.
ReplyDeleteAnd so the soul evolves until the final merging into God.
The people who fear death, as you've said so beautifully, are those who haven't lived as much as they could have. It is the regret of having frittered away their life that makes them sad and fearful, perhaps.
Personally, I am ready to begin again. There was a time when I feared death too though. Not anymore. :)
Dagnu
Your posts always make me sit and think. A second death post today and so much to think!
ReplyDeleteI would fear death more, when He comes for a loved one. Very wise thoughts, and though it does calm that fear of death a little, it doesn't vanquish it from my heart as yet :) Thank you.
ReplyDeletevery powerful and thought provoking!
ReplyDeleteThe power of losing is more bitter getting lost in the oblivion. The pain of Death, though essential, cannot be made light of too. Love the way you write, each word delivered with punch...
ReplyDeleteYou have a new follower thanks to A-Z. I agree with Karan: very powerful. See you tomorrow :) Rhondi
ReplyDeleteVery philosophical indeed!
ReplyDeleteSo true!
ReplyDeleteHappy A-Z April!
Once we take the first step in our spiritual journey we realise that death is the return to our true form - the return of our soul to its real home. But you just pen these things so well.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Heart-breaking. True.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sandra. As I age, I'm beginning to fear Death less.
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