Christmas greeting,
No not holiday greetings, Christmas greetings. Since this is the season to be jolly let’s talk about something all of us must face.
Let’s talk about death.
Life is not about living life is about dying.
Many would say such a perception is pessimistic. I would say such a perception is optimistic, but how is this so?
It’s a little after seven PM. The air is a chilly 17 degrees but quiet and peaceful. A fresh eight inches of snow covers the ground. I took my evening stroll through the woods bordering a small lake nestled in a covey of condominiums and houses in back of my home.
As I broke a path through the light snow, I couldn’t help reflecting upon the funeral I attended this week of a young man. He was only twenty-seven. I knew his Mother. His Father had died eight years ago from cancer.
As I thought about the death, I could not help thinking about the fact that death faces us all. What then of life if one is certain to face death?
The question hovered above me as I smelled the crisp fresh winter air, embraced the crystal clear star lit sky, and wondered at the softness of life exuding from each and every window of the homes decorated for the Christmas season.
Each home faces life. Each home faces death. Some face death only as a distant thought tucked away in the far reaches of their minds. Others face death as a here and now. Whatever the case they all face death.
But how is it that one can say life is about dying and then perceive the statement to be optimistic.
If life is all there is and death is a certainty then death is the end. Such a perception generates the understanding that life is about living. Such a perception is about nihilism. Such a perception is pessimistic for there is but today and tomorrow you shall die. Such a perception is about fatalism and the understanding that life has no meaning.
If life is simply the beginning, is a stage before one steps over into another stage, is about leaving the physical in order to enter the non-physical, then death is not the end, death is only the beginning. Such a perception generates the understanding that life is about the act of preparing for the next stage. Such a perception is about hope. Such a perception is optimistic for then life is not about today but rather life is about tomorrow, forever tomorrow even when today is the last day of one’s physical existence. Such a perception is about the understanding that life has meaning.
The question then becomes: Are we capable of understanding why we exist?
Tomorrow: Are we capable of understanding why we exist?