See an interesting video here about a young high school man, Nathan, with a terminal disease. Near the end of the clip He speaks to what looks to be his classmates about the advantage of knowing when he is going to die. As for me the reality of my mortality came relatively early I think. In my twenties I can remember lying on my back looking up at my arm. As I would hold it before me the crushing realization that one day it would rot would settle in on me like a ton of bricks. Morbid I know. I would remember all the milestones of my past that I had waited for so anxiously: a driver's licence, finishing high school, getting out of the military, the first paying job of my profession. These events came... and they went..., and just as certainly, I knew that a date with my last heart beat loomed just as certainly on the horizon.
As a non-Christian this reality would bring on a paralyzing fear. As a Christian it is only oppressive; but it is a reality. Once after attending a funeral I wondered aloud amongst friends what people would say at my funeral. A friend that knows me quite well spoke without hesitation saying dryly: "It finally happened".
Still, even with the seemingly heightened awareness of my mortality I can't help but wonder: am I numbering my days so that I can present to God a heart of wisdom? This short video may guide your thoughts as well to some much needed soul searching.
Blessed Assurance
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6 comments:
As a Christian I do not see death as "oppressive" at all, quite the opposite actually.
I have known of death very early in my life and unfortunately quite often throughout my existence to this point including both my parents and in one year losing 7 friends.
I need not know the time or date of my demise just only pray that it be fast in occurrence (not soon).
Not long ago I was your polar opposite on mortality thinking... I just rarely thought about it (and when I did, it still didn't seem 'real').
Now, of course, I think about it a lot. I'm trying to have a Christ-like perspective... easier said than done for me. It's so very natural - we're all born, we all live, we all die. Why, then, is it SO painful? Especially for those of us who KNOW the TRUTH?!
I'm learning, slowly but surely to practice what I preach. Emphasis slowly.
Thank you for the link, Dan.
This seems to touch again on the subject of your your post on "normalcy bias", and how easy it is to ignore or be completely unaware of the inevitability of (in this case, death) when we can insulate ourselves from reality with a ton of distractions. :(
Heather
Whoa! That's some deep stuff, Dan!
Hope 2011 is being good to you so far, mortality notwithstanding...
;)
Susannah, so far so good.
Good deal~ ;)
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