The biggie. The be-all-end-all. The one to which nothing else can compare. DEATH. The word itself is so final. It makes sense that it is monosyllabic. We tend to associate it with terror and dread. But people have been dying for eons. Can it really be that bad? Perhaps we are designed to die. Perhaps – as many religions, philosophers and poets throughout the ages have suggested – death really is just a transition. When we are growing in our mothers’ bellies, that’s our world. There is nothing else. Everything is secure. We don’t even have to open our mouths to be fed. And then…one fateful day…we are evicted! With our little, barely-developed minds, I wonder if we think we are dying. Of course we come out crying! This is tragic! Or is it? What’s this? I’m being held by that voice I’ve heard for so long. There are favorable high-pitched squeals every time I get passed around. This is amazing! So this is death, eh?
I believe that we are possibly scared to be born, or should I say, to “die”. And yet – assuming we have a healthy birth to a loving family - being born is fabulous! We can move! We can make different noises! We have a freedom we could not have imagined before! We were designed to be born. It is natural. We are designed to live – and may it be a long and healthy life. And, we are designed to die. Perhaps that death will be just like being born: confusing, frightening, and…amazing! Perhaps we really have been born many times, and died many times. Maybe it really is a long journey with a purpose. Eh, I just don’t know. None of us do. But I believe it is reasonable to think that death is nothing more than another transition. To what exactly? We don’t know. And sure, that can be a scary thought. But if we are going to talk about unknowns, then that is every second of every day! We don’t know anything, and yet, we somehow manage. I have a feeling we will manage death just like we manage life – with uncertainty, some fear, and ultimately, a trusting confidence – the same confidence we all have that allows us to get out of bed every day and live our lives. May we realize that every day is a blessing. May we live the long lives for which we are physiologically intended. And may we realize that the person next to us is our travelling partner, living and wondering just as we are.