When we are born we start to die. To die is a part of life. Fear is the predominate emotion in those rare instances that we allow our selves to contemplate the actual event. Humans have adapted many stratagems to handle the fear of dying. We have created or at least accepted abstract postulates such as , religion, heaven, hell, reincarnation, universal mind etc. These are comforting postulates but they can only be accepted on faith. (Unfortunately all faith can be disseminated by close examination and skilfully or emotionally discussed to the point of abandonment.) Since afterlife can not be guaranteed absolutely. How we handle this basic truth, successively defines the type of person that we are. Death is the end of an accumulation of experiences, actions and remembrances. How we live are life for good or bad (none of us are all virtuous or all immoral) is how we accept the inevitable.
Death should not be feared (after all fear is an emotion like laughing or crying, if we accept this premise then we can control the emotion) it should be only a stepping stone to the next level of knowledge. This makes more sense to me than gossamer wings or burning torment. I believe that god is a absolute and that he is neither loving or vengeful. That we are placed on earth for a reason and that it is not merely random selection. The reason is neither good nor bad but rather an attempt to take progression of knowledge to the next step. God maybe the summation of all souls or the absolute essence of spark of life.(did you know that we can duplicate a cell chemically and structurally, but for all of this we cannot give it life, spark of life may be a misnomer, spark of life may be the definition of God.)
We have bad things happen to us and ask, “why me Lord why me”. What you are really saying is “Why not someone else Lord why not someone else”. You invite and/or attract what happens to you for good or bad. As I grow older, hopefully a wee bit wiser, I have found this to be a quintessential truth without equal.
When we pray we do not change Gods mind or even influence him to take notice. God doesn’t change his mind, we do.
Prayer is powerful, there are too many documented examples to simply dismiss it as a crutch of the masses. My best advice is, “don’t save prayer as a last resort”.
Belief in God is a fundamental building block of the person we think we are. It makes no difference what you call him: Allah, Almighty, Deus, Divine Being, God, Heavenly Father, Hosanna, Jehovah, Supreme Brahman, whose three primary incarnations are Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma, Lord, Master Of The Universe, Omnipotent Being, Supreme Being, The Creator, Etc. The name is only semantics’ for the intelligence we define as God. Even the Atheist believe in God. How can you disbelieve or deny something that you don’t believe exists.
Practical Advice
We all die eventually and so will I strange how that sentence completely changes in emotional content when you add "so will I". Some of us accept it as parts of living others see it as fearful or try not to think about it at all. What ever your view points, you should consider making your own funeral arrangements. Look at it as a gift to your family at a time they need a gift. If you can't afford to make pre-arrangements and pay cash. Many funeral homes have time pay so that you can pay it off before you die. This insures that you will have the type of wake and funeral you want. Why ask your family to spend $5,000 to $10,000 to put you in the ground. Unfortunately, in are societies the bigger the funeral (more money spent) the more you were respected in your community and loved by your family. That’s a lot of horse hockey, and you know it. You wouldn’t want to spend money to the point of borrowing (in your secret heart of hearts) and neither would they. Of course they would, but why ask.
Pre-arrangements are simple you go to the funeral home of your choice. Tell them you would like to make pre-arrangements they will show you different packages organized by cost. Do not make any decisions right away. Tell them you would like to think about it.
I see this as a personal choice and it should be kept private. Inform your family that you have made pre-arrangements and at what funeral home. Do not tell the details this seems to help the family if they don’t know what to expect. Be creative, and have some fun with it. It is a good way to be remembered. If you can't bring yourself to think or act about this subject, you need to be less selfish and grow up. This may seem a hard line but you know I’m right.
Addendum
I wrote this before I wound up in a coma for a month and then months of recovery, hospitalized again, more recovery and finally to where I am back or at least 85% back.
Knowing what I know now and what I have experienced does the truth of my previous writings ring true? Short answer yes, with a caveat, my belief in the here after is no longer something I have to take on faith. If someone tries to tell you there is nothing after this they are, very simply, mistaken. I have glimpsed the other side it is as real as this keyboard I am typing on. Fear of dieing has gone, now it is sadness of leaving the people and things that I love and have become used to, but it is with curious contemplation that I look forward to different plane of existence. TL
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away
Philip K. Dick
*Platonic Realism: Thought process includes the thesis that mathematics and all scientific truths are not created but waiting to be discovered.
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