Is death a friend or an enemy?

In a hundred years all of us reading this will be long dead. Make the most of your life and die happy.

"That's" the key; die happy.

I will know not of death. Why you ask?

I'm gonna freeze one testicle.

I'm gonna download my brain into the burgeoning interlinked telecommunications infrastructure.

At the correct moment, I'll clone myself back into the new millenium to become one with the Cosmos, and escape this mortal coil.

All the while singing "Coal Miner's Daughter" by Loretta Lynn.

The fact is, a line in the sands of time is being drawn, between those that can sing like Loretta Lynn, and those that cannot!

That last verse says it all so clearly.........






Well, I was born a coal miner's daughter
In a cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler
We were poor, but we had love
That's the one thing that daddy made sure of
He shoveled coal to make a poor man's dollar.

My daddy worked all night in the Vanleer coal mine
All day long in the field a-hoin' corn
Mommie rocked the babies at night
And read the Bible by the coal-oil light
And ever'thing would start all over come break of morn'.

Daddy loved and raised eight kids on a miner's pay
Mommie scrubbed our clothes on a washboard ever' day
Why, I've seen her fingers bleed
To complain there was no need
She'd smile in Mommie's understanding way.

In the summertime we didn't have shoes to wear
But in the wintertime we'd all get a brand new pair
From a mail order catalog
Money made from sellin' a hog
Daddy always managed to get the money somewhere.

Yeah!, I'm proud to be a coal miner's daughter
I remember well - the well where I drew water
The work we done was hard
At night we'd sleep 'cause we were tired
I never thought of ever leaving Butcher Holler.

Well, a lot of things have changed since way back then
And it's so good to be back home again
Not much left but the floor
Nothing lives here anymore
Except the mem'ries of a coal miner's daughter.

Death is neither an enemy nor a friend.

It's inevitable. It happens to everyone.

Fighting the acceptance of this inevitability is what causes the pain.

I think that you have stated this very well. A young person has little concept of his own mortality. I would expect that's why there is a preponderance of physical risk taking amongst the young. I think that the young have a tremendous amount of difficulty even considering the fact that they are not immortal.

I think that when one is in middle age, when one sees the ever deepening signs that the body is not what it used to be, that fear of death starts to emerge in a person. I believe that as we get older, and supposedly more realistic, one realizes that our lives are finite, that no one lives forever.

I agree that one needs to squeeze every drop of joy that one can out of our lives, and be the best that we can be. So that when we lie down for the last time, we can do so with the confidence that we have lived a good life.

One of my favorite quotes is from William Buckley. As he was getting on in years, someone asked him how he was,

"Decomposing", he replied!

Phoenix

I am certainly no expert in this area, but the more I read of Buddhist & other thought on the subject of death, the more it becomes clear to me that we are not prepared for what will inevitably occur. We refuse to see death as a natural part of the cycle. This makes the idea (& actual experience) of dying much more frightening & painful than it need be.

i change my avatar, location and sig every month, so in 3 days it's not going to be my sig anymore, feel free to use it if you like

msolga- I agree. But it does not have to be that way. I think that society has fostered a denial of death. Think about those corpses, all gussied up in their best outfits, polished and made up to look like they are alive. People nod in happy agreement that "old Uncle Max looked so good in the coffin".

As you may know, my mom died last month at the age of 97. She had been slowly failing, both mentally and physically for some time. In the recent past, the slide was becoming more precipitous, and her quality of life had really deteriorated.

When she died, I spent time with her body. I stared at it (it, because the body was no longer "her") for some time, and derived a great sense of peace. She had finally been relieved of the forces that were ravaging her.
It was closure for me, as I realized that what I had known as my mother no longer existed. It was a relief, and not a fearsome thing at all.

Yes, Phoenix, I know what you mean.
I was present (along with my mother & sister) when my father died after a long illness. I think he had had enough was ready & wanted die. The sad thing was that he did not feel free to talk about what he was actually thinking & feeling at the time. It was a relief & a comfort (for me, anyway) that his pain had finally ceased, but I wondered how alone he must have felt, keeping so much to himself.

Sure, death is a natural part of the cycle. So are maiming accidents and debilitating disease. That don't mean we have to say, Sure, what the hell. We gonna die anyway. Might as well relax and enjoy it.

I don't think that's quite what I was saying, edgar.

edgar- We don't all have maiming accidents, or debilitating disease. The only thing that we can be sure of, as they say, is death and taxes.

What's the choice? We are all going to die anyway. Why not enjoy what we have to the fullest now, without bemoaning what will be?

I don't bemoan. I just post what I think about it on an occasional forum thread. Rest of the time, it's not a topic I dwell on overmuch.

Olga
I know, and I'm sorry. Still, I will venture on with my opinions, like a bull in a china shop.

No need at all to apologise, edgar.

Haven't heard from the religious right yet. . . .

Maybe they don't want to participate in the altercation that will inevitably ensue once they express their feelings about death.

I promise to leave once they arrive.

Mornin' Snood. Coffee?

Edgar, I hope you will stay around and draw cudgels for a while. . .

Coffee?