forever
Death.
It is the axis of our existance, our atmosphere, our every day lives, for every day that passes, is a day we are closer to dying. Death is the center of our world through political issues such as the war in Iraq, abortion, the lifespan of our world leaders. It is our history, what we learn from, such as mass genocides in Rwanda or through Adolph Hitler’s or Saddam Hussein’s life span. Death is the core of our religion and cultural differences worldwide, the key root to our own establishment of our ancestry and who we find ourselves to be today.
Every form of art most often finds itself alluding to death through literature, music, visual aesthetics, and alternate mindless forms of entertainment we sadly deem as art. It is most often the central dynamism of our scientific discovery discovering and evolving new ways to kill ourselves and others, and on the other spectrum, ascertaining new medicines, theories, and methods to cheat out our expiration date and postpone what Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern would regard as the eternal entrapment in a dark box:
“Rosencrantz: …Nor do I, really. It's silly to be depressed by it. I mean, one thinks of it like being alive in a box. One keeps forgetting to take into account the fact that one is dead, which should make all the difference, shouldn't it? I mean, you'd never know you were in a box, would you? It would be just like you were asleep in a box. Not that I'd like to sleep in a box, mind you. Not without any air. You'd wake up dead for a start, and then where would you be? In a box. That's the bit I don't like, frankly. That's why I don't think of it. Because you'd be helpless, wouldn't you? Stuffed in a box like that. I mean, you'd be in there forever, even taking into account the fact that you're dead. It isn't a pleasant thought.”
A philosopher stated in paraphrased words that it has been claimed that an individual can never look directly at the sun or in turn their own death, yet both have been the enduring themes throughout our lives and the lives of the past. This theme extends beyond Nicolaus Copernicus’ sentencing to death for where he rightly believed the sun’s was situated. Why can we not accept it? Why does the world choose to glance at death with the same squinting avoiding eyes as they do the sun?
Furthermore, on another level, death exposures, such as near-death experiences, can similarly crystallize and invigorate individuals' own life pathways. A study was performed by a Michael Sabom in which, he discovered that for the 43 percent of his patients who had near-death experiences, the experience did more to change the depth and direction of their approach to life than had any other life event.
My question is why only 43 percent? Why do we have to have near-death experiences to gain such an understanding? Can we not just learn from the knowledge of death, from the experiences we obtain through the death of loved ones? We know that death is imminent and unavoidable, just as the sun rising and setting. So why turn away from it like it does not exist?
And as the nurses gave the seventy-four year old man the tragic unexpected news, he turned to her and laid at her side, with her grasped firmly in his arms he pleaded with tears streaming down his face, “I love you baby. Tell me you love me one more time, all I want is to hear you say it once more.” With such invigorating words she still did not stir, and one could imagine the old couple as they knew and loved each other when they were merely teenagers. He closed his eyes tight with memories of their young past, and memories of their 50th wedding anniversary that happened not even four and a half years ago flashing in his mind. Her soul slipped away from him and her body turned cold with one last weak and gasping breath the Angel of Death allowed her to have. And she was gone. Forever.
It is the axis of our existance, our atmosphere, our every day lives, for every day that passes, is a day we are closer to dying. Death is the center of our world through political issues such as the war in Iraq, abortion, the lifespan of our world leaders. It is our history, what we learn from, such as mass genocides in Rwanda or through Adolph Hitler’s or Saddam Hussein’s life span. Death is the core of our religion and cultural differences worldwide, the key root to our own establishment of our ancestry and who we find ourselves to be today.
Every form of art most often finds itself alluding to death through literature, music, visual aesthetics, and alternate mindless forms of entertainment we sadly deem as art. It is most often the central dynamism of our scientific discovery discovering and evolving new ways to kill ourselves and others, and on the other spectrum, ascertaining new medicines, theories, and methods to cheat out our expiration date and postpone what Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern would regard as the eternal entrapment in a dark box:
“Rosencrantz: …Nor do I, really. It's silly to be depressed by it. I mean, one thinks of it like being alive in a box. One keeps forgetting to take into account the fact that one is dead, which should make all the difference, shouldn't it? I mean, you'd never know you were in a box, would you? It would be just like you were asleep in a box. Not that I'd like to sleep in a box, mind you. Not without any air. You'd wake up dead for a start, and then where would you be? In a box. That's the bit I don't like, frankly. That's why I don't think of it. Because you'd be helpless, wouldn't you? Stuffed in a box like that. I mean, you'd be in there forever, even taking into account the fact that you're dead. It isn't a pleasant thought.”
A philosopher stated in paraphrased words that it has been claimed that an individual can never look directly at the sun or in turn their own death, yet both have been the enduring themes throughout our lives and the lives of the past. This theme extends beyond Nicolaus Copernicus’ sentencing to death for where he rightly believed the sun’s was situated. Why can we not accept it? Why does the world choose to glance at death with the same squinting avoiding eyes as they do the sun?
Furthermore, on another level, death exposures, such as near-death experiences, can similarly crystallize and invigorate individuals' own life pathways. A study was performed by a Michael Sabom in which, he discovered that for the 43 percent of his patients who had near-death experiences, the experience did more to change the depth and direction of their approach to life than had any other life event.
My question is why only 43 percent? Why do we have to have near-death experiences to gain such an understanding? Can we not just learn from the knowledge of death, from the experiences we obtain through the death of loved ones? We know that death is imminent and unavoidable, just as the sun rising and setting. So why turn away from it like it does not exist?
And as the nurses gave the seventy-four year old man the tragic unexpected news, he turned to her and laid at her side, with her grasped firmly in his arms he pleaded with tears streaming down his face, “I love you baby. Tell me you love me one more time, all I want is to hear you say it once more.” With such invigorating words she still did not stir, and one could imagine the old couple as they knew and loved each other when they were merely teenagers. He closed his eyes tight with memories of their young past, and memories of their 50th wedding anniversary that happened not even four and a half years ago flashing in his mind. Her soul slipped away from him and her body turned cold with one last weak and gasping breath the Angel of Death allowed her to have. And she was gone. Forever.