Nov 11, 2015

Death is the greatest blessing

Week of November 8, 2015

I am changing my posting format. Instead of one long post each week, I will post several shorter posts on the same subject each week.

Right now, the number each week will vary, and as I learn better how to work my way into this new approach, I will become more organized, perhaps even becoming daily some day in the future.

 

Death is the Greatest Blessing (1)

“ Remembering that you are going to die

is the best way I know to avoid the trap

of thinking you have something to lose.”

                        Steve Jobs

Death; the great leveler

Socrates once said: “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.” I have pondered this quote over the years and, even as my age (81+) indicates I am approaching this milestone, I have come to appreciate and understand some of the depths this insight by one of the greatest philosophers this world has ever known.

I am obviously writing this from my own viewpoint of believing, or rather knowing, that God exists, that I am a part of that eternal being we call the Holy Mystery, and that I come from and will return to that same Holy Mystery. We will look at some aspects of death or passing or whatever term we feel most comfortable using about this inevitable part of Life. I will try to examine this concept from as many viewpoints that I can enter into and share with all who read this post.

When you read this heading, what was your reaction? How can death be a blessing? We all know the pain of someone close to us passing, how can this be a good thing?

But what if there was no death?

The world without Death

“For life and death are one,

even as the river and the sea are one.”

         Kahlil Gibran

It boggles my mind that the world would have no death. It is estimated that around 100 billion humans have been born since humanity first appeared on earth; can you imagine trying to feed and house 100 billion people? And if death would have not been on earth, what would the mosquito p0pulation look like today? Death is part of life over the past 4 billion years that life has been on our planet earth, and mostly violent death with the stronger devouring the weaker for food. Even the plant life is food for higher forms of life. Life begets life; it is by the life giving process of one life providing the nourishment of another that life, in all its amazing layers, has produced more and more complex life, culminating in humanity, the first form of life on this planet able to ask the amazing question “Why”. The ability to ask that simple question, and then search for the answer is what separates us from the animal life.

Limiting Population

We can see from the objective viewpoint that having the ability of unlimited life that the overcrowding would be incredible. So now we say, well, we would just have limited population growth to zero millennia ago, when the numbers grew too large. Ok! We have found a solution to the overpopulation statement.

One problem.

Where do we cut it off? Don’t forget, for you and I to be present as you and I, all our ancestors would have to be present. One ancestor not present would result in a different person. You and I would not be asking this question, for you and I would not be here. Heck; you and I would be off the map just because we make up part of the last 7 billion born, and would be part of the last 90 billion that would have not been born.

Questions to Ponder

From our discussion, we can perhaps see that there are quite a few questions to be answered without the ‘great leveler’, as it has been called.

What is your opinion and feelings (from the heart, not the logical side) of the conundrum mentioned above?

Would you be willing to not be present just so only a limited number of humans could live forever?

Meditation

My Beloved Wisdom; how do we approach this topic that is so painful? We are usually terrified of thinking of our own mortality; but the problems that arise by doing away with death for humanity from the beginning is even more unsettling; we would not be present to discuss the topic. Grant us the gift of understanding that death is not something to be afraid of; but something we need to experience as part of our humanity. It is indeed a gift to be treasured, and is part of the theme of all life; just because the particular form that life took to be me, that form is only one of the possible faces of God that can exist throughout eternity.

Next: We will look at what would happen if suddenly death was made unnecessary. What would it be like to lives for all eternity?