Death Is Not Polite Table Talk But It's Real
Half of the life is taken up with sleep. Ten years are spent in childhood. Twenty years are lost in old age. Out of the remaining twenty years, sorrow, complaining, pain, and agitation eliminate much time, and hundreds of physical illnesses destroy much more.
To make life meaningful, acceptance of old age and death as parts of our life is crucial. Feeling that death is almost impossible just creates more greediness and more trouble -- sometimes even deliberate harm to others. When we take a good look at how supposedly great personages -- emperors, monarchs, and so forth -- built huge dwelling places and walls, we see that deep inside their minds was an idea that they would stay in this life forever. This self-deception results in more pain and more trouble for many people.
I’ll be sixty-nine next month. I’ve lived most of this life. For the past decade, give or take I’ve been re-reading Advice On Dying. Each time there are new and not so new jewels to take out, polish up and admire.
This time the above quote is one of those jewels. Both Freedom and Responsibility are found in this quote.
Freedom from self deception. The ability to look Death eyeball to eyeball and smile. Not because there’s a way to defeat Death. No, Freedom comes from accepting the natural and inevitable necessity of Death.
Responsibility comes as the understanding develops that in the time I have left I really should be the best person that I can be.
Think about it.
Brian
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