Receiving Death Differently
#: Do you think about death or do you behave like the hare who when told to run for its dear life decided toclose its eyes and said to itself that if it does not the fox so will the fox not see it. Death is the no-talk topic we won't talk about in the school,offices and bar. Authorities- government,clergy etc-seek to persuade us to talk less of it. No wonder funeral are hurriedly done these days.
In the words of Charlotte Perkins Gilman : " Death? Why this fuss about death? Use your imagination to visualise a world without death.Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil." Death is the characteristic of living things. Death is beautiful!
Dark is the region of the dead- the nursing homes where old people go to decay and die;the hospital trauma wards where despite elaborate machinery and technology keeping a loved one 'alive' the one in the bed already know she is dead; the cold morgues and funeral homes where quicky decaying flesh is poked at and sliced up; or frightening graveyard where the dead lie close to one another,where lawns,fences and pavement conceal the dark lifelessness and isolation revealed by it- that surrounds us. Are we normal?
Moving from life as a general phenomenon of conscious existence to how we live it in everyday experience, we see death lurking in the shadows of each relationship we form and break,each division rendered, evry tool and technology we devise to get by each value that dictates for us what is the "good life". Life , or better yet, living is shaped by how we view that moment when we will cease to live.
Whether it is the suicide bomber who believes his death- which brings the death of infidels- will make him go to Paradise. Or the Indian boy who was told and made to believe in transmigration of soul or reincarnation in which life is cyclical such that death is not finality, achievement in this life will be done in the next and the one following ad infinitum. Or even me who believes in life after death- to be either heaven( eternal bliss) or hell(eternal doom), and the other guy who said yesterday that after deathe is extinction. One thing common for us all is the belief that we will all have to die.
Every momentary decision of life- whether is to eat amala and ewedu,to go to the clu or listen to Cool FM- is it not done with the conscious thought of death. Yet death, its imminent possibility and inevitability makes possible and necessary those decision of life- determing the reasoning for such decision, and their value and consequence, and the bearing they will have on social world in which we are engaged.
Death is the fundamental experience that guides,influences and/or. Determine what form our lives will takes and the relationship our lives will have with lives of others. Peradventure,even beyond the events of death, our belief about what lies after it are as well a significant factor in how we spend our time between the date of our birth and that of our death. Apostle Paul said "if there is no hope of eternal life then we are in this world most miserable", for what lies beyond death is significant for life and how we live this life determines the one following.
Essentially with the consciousness of death, one must accomplish all he can in the space before his death. This is living life; redeeming the time. Thus we place value on progress, incremental development towards such a final goal.
Rather than 'wasting' time playing conscious effort should be made in fulfilling the ultimate life task which is well beyond the principle of to get all you can, can all you get and then sit on the can. It is more real than he who dies with the most toys,is the one that wins!
Death is largely responsible for our shared symbolic world, as well as personal and collective identity as we bond ourselves with our neighbours,family, friends and the whole world at large.
In the words of Charlotte Perkins Gilman : " Death? Why this fuss about death? Use your imagination to visualise a world without death.Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil." Death is the characteristic of living things. Death is beautiful!
Dark is the region of the dead- the nursing homes where old people go to decay and die;the hospital trauma wards where despite elaborate machinery and technology keeping a loved one 'alive' the one in the bed already know she is dead; the cold morgues and funeral homes where quicky decaying flesh is poked at and sliced up; or frightening graveyard where the dead lie close to one another,where lawns,fences and pavement conceal the dark lifelessness and isolation revealed by it- that surrounds us. Are we normal?
Moving from life as a general phenomenon of conscious existence to how we live it in everyday experience, we see death lurking in the shadows of each relationship we form and break,each division rendered, evry tool and technology we devise to get by each value that dictates for us what is the "good life". Life , or better yet, living is shaped by how we view that moment when we will cease to live.
Whether it is the suicide bomber who believes his death- which brings the death of infidels- will make him go to Paradise. Or the Indian boy who was told and made to believe in transmigration of soul or reincarnation in which life is cyclical such that death is not finality, achievement in this life will be done in the next and the one following ad infinitum. Or even me who believes in life after death- to be either heaven( eternal bliss) or hell(eternal doom), and the other guy who said yesterday that after deathe is extinction. One thing common for us all is the belief that we will all have to die.
Every momentary decision of life- whether is to eat amala and ewedu,to go to the clu or listen to Cool FM- is it not done with the conscious thought of death. Yet death, its imminent possibility and inevitability makes possible and necessary those decision of life- determing the reasoning for such decision, and their value and consequence, and the bearing they will have on social world in which we are engaged.
Death is the fundamental experience that guides,influences and/or. Determine what form our lives will takes and the relationship our lives will have with lives of others. Peradventure,even beyond the events of death, our belief about what lies after it are as well a significant factor in how we spend our time between the date of our birth and that of our death. Apostle Paul said "if there is no hope of eternal life then we are in this world most miserable", for what lies beyond death is significant for life and how we live this life determines the one following.
Essentially with the consciousness of death, one must accomplish all he can in the space before his death. This is living life; redeeming the time. Thus we place value on progress, incremental development towards such a final goal.
Rather than 'wasting' time playing conscious effort should be made in fulfilling the ultimate life task which is well beyond the principle of to get all you can, can all you get and then sit on the can. It is more real than he who dies with the most toys,is the one that wins!
Death is largely responsible for our shared symbolic world, as well as personal and collective identity as we bond ourselves with our neighbours,family, friends and the whole world at large.
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