Which Do You Fear?

A diety that exists will doubtlessly take you up on your offer.

To anyone who is important enough and long-living enough to matter in this Universe, 100 years is pretty "immediate". In fact I expect that the human race will cease to exist in just a moment...

But then again,
The Universe as I know it was created the day I was born. It will end the
instant I die.

Oh. Oh, I must have been born upside-down or backwards or something. This is awkward.

I believe we meet God and go to heaven the instant we are born. What an amazing place to be! Every minute of my existence I "walk and talk with God and ask those questions and ponder the measure and majesty of the universe."

Do most people wait to do that until after they die? That seems so sad to me, because there is infinite love and grace right here, right now, wherever we are. I won't have a chance to talk with God once I'm fertilizer again, so I do it all now!

Also, the average lifespan of a dog or cat, bird or mosquito, is far shorter than ours. They have wonderful lives too, but as humans we have so much more! With all the radical technologies coming out in the next few decades, I give the human race 50% chance of being wiped out in the next half-century. So why be afraid of death, but treasure what we have while we have it?

I really enjoy fear from time to time, at least as much as the next guy, but there's so much more to explore also!



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Isn't it amazing how many viewpoints we all have?!

truth
Interesting and very honest responses. Two small points:
To wish not to die is as perverse as wishing not to have been born. Both are too inevitable for wishing. Yet note that we don't seem to be very happy when we're born.

Just as we fear the loss of loved ones, we fear--in our thinking of our own death--the loss of everything. "Object loss" is a major aspect of fear of death. But it seems to me that since my world, even my Self (as the existentialists say) are my own on-going creations, WHEN I GO I WILL TAKE EVERYTHING WITH ME. Someone above said a very wise thing: to the effect that my life is my eternity: it began with my birth and will end with my death. My life IS my eternity. And, as I always say, after dying there will be no state of death, because there will be no ME to be in a state of death. Even with this orientation, I'm not totally without fear of death. That residum may have some biological basis. I don't mind.

some people's definition of "god" is beyond reproach;
Codeborg; I would place yours in that category!

And you know what; I've just decided that right before I die I'm going to turn on my vcr, set to record, and leave it running.....
(sometimes I sense that I don't think things through properly!)

This past week a beloved teacher in my daughter's school took her own life. The kids only know she died suddenly, but the parents and faculty are aware of her long and quiet struggle with depression. I've never suffered so deeply with mental illness, but I now realize how death would seem a good alternative to that suffering.

I've never really thought too much about death until the past few years. I was raised in the church and was always taught it was nothing to fear. It was almost as if we were taught that you couldn't be a good Christian if death bothered you. And when I was young I thought that getting old was so far away that it wasn't worth thinking about.

My mother and father are both still alive. They're in good shape for being in their 80s, but every time I see them it's noticable how much older they have gotten. I suspect I will not take their passing well.

Several months ago I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and my heart pounding. I was in absolute terror that I was going to die - not that night - but one day, perhaps even decades away. I guess I've been so busy with work and money and everything else that I've never come to terms on a personal level with death.

Years and years ago my father read a book he told me about. One of the major characters was from India, and the character explained a little about his culture. He said his people spend the first third of their lives working and securing their position in life, the second third of their lives raising a family, and the final third of their lives preparing for death. I have no intention of dwelling on death, but neither should I ignore it.

That is why it is so important Jim, imo, that in all three of those phases we add plenty of fun to the mix. Adventures, silliness, and just plain daydreaming.

I have spent my life living in a way most people would view as outside the system, even though I've worked hard, raised my kids, paid my taxes etc., but no one has ever, and at this stage of my life probably never will see me in 7:30 bumper to bumper in a yellow power tie traffic waiting to get to work for some big life sucking spirit sucking corporation.

I'm lucky enough to have my share of nice things, but I know I can't take them with me and I'm not in love with them.

I remember once going up the interstate headed towards Winnipeg Manitoba for a six week hotel and college gig mini tour and outside of Grand Forks North Dakota the Northern lights dropped down like a multi colored conical drape, and was so thick we stopped the van and got out and looked at it awhile.You could almost touch it. Later we stopped at an Exxon in Grand Forks and the attendant said he had been there all his life and had never seen them that bright.

I remember driving all night from Charleston SC to Daytona Beach to play a club on the water for biker week. As we pulled onto the beach the sun had just come full up and the first thing we saw was a huge line of Dolphins swimming close to shore breaking the water together like precision swimmers. Unreal.

I remember when my daredevil youngest son was the smallest and youngest child to ever go on one of those tower rides that drops you 100 feet and swings you like a pendulum. We have that on video.

The fun is what makes it worthwhile, in my opinion.

These are lines from William Shakespeare's Cymbeline. I'd posted them in the Poetry forum a few days ago, realized this morning they are a good fit here. Another brave decision against fearing the inevitable.

Fear no more the heat o' the sun,
Nor the furious winter's rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages:
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.

Fear no more the frown o' the great;
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke;
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.

Fear no more the lightning flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finish'd joy and moan:
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.

No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!

Quiet consummation have;
And renowned be thy grave!

Maybe, but God help you if you cut me off on the freeway...

I'm a atheist, and I do not fear dying. I believe it's all a part of having a life. I've been pretty lucky; I'm 67 years old, and lived a pretty 'comfortable' life. Many die at birth, and many third world countries have much shorter life spans. In many parts of Africa, the life expectancy is less than 40 years. My mother was a christian, and she feared cremation. I chose cremation after I die. c.i.

Hmmm.. I hadn't really thought about it much but I guess I don't really fear being dead at all. How I get to that point does cause some minor concern.

fishin' That's been one of my concerns too, so I signed a "Living Will" which instructs my wife and doctor not to do anything special to extend my life. c.i.

truth
Pifkka, Joseph Stalin also said it: "Death solves all man's problems: no man, no problems

those bastards!!!!!

those bastards!!!!!

Yes but the idea is to die yet remain physically alive, '(physically', being a relative term.) And yet there is no-thing to die, no separate 'self' to die.

And when this non-death takes place some problems are solved except you still have to pump liquids and blow up balloons.

Problems remain but there is no one that has them.



Suffering alone exists, but none who suffer;
The deed there is, but no doer thereof;
Nirvana is, but no one seeking it;
The path there is, but none who travel it.[/b]

(Buddhism)

I can only hope this Eastern belief system doesn't gain a stronger foothold in America than the limited one it currently has. It has pretensions and cockiness that even Christianity eschews - and I think it represents a step in the wrong direction.

I've always had a contempt for the Eastern navel gazers, who spout their pontifications while women and children suffer and starve about them in their millions. Loved your characterization, Frank.

As opposed to Mother Theresa, who could wade waist deep in starving children and deny them birth control...