I've been spending a bit of time contemplating the here-after of late. It's something to occupy the time, on those nights I lay alone in the dark, utterly unable to fall asleep anyway thanks to the lingering anxieties that plague me day to day.
What becomes of you after death? Death is something that comes for us all, in the end (so to speak). We are by nature mortal, and so our times upon this earth, both our fleeting joys and our tragic suffering, are limited. And once our physical bodies lay lifeless, food for worms and grubs (or ashes scattered across the waters to provide nourishment to algae-blooms, or whatever other rituals we humans undertake upon the death of a loved one, to find some solace at our loss), what then?
Is there such thing as a soul? Or is the "soul" but a conceit, a clever fabrication of fiction and fantasy, constructed in order to allay our fears of the impermanence and ultimately the insignificance of our own paltry lives, in the greater scope of history? Is the "soul" nothing more than consciousness, a result of firing synapsis triggering cells in our brains to regurgitate certain thoughts, feelings, and emotions associated with certain people, places, and events?
What is it like, to die? Is it painful? Is one aware? Or does one simply grow too tired, eyes drooping in exhaustion, as awareness slips away quietly, and the body shuts down into a final slumber.
Is there time for fear? Sorrow? Regret?
Death, a black chasm waiting before you.
Will you leap? Or will you be pushed?
It doesn't care either way. I'll still end up at the bottom.
3 comments:
The soul is a contrivance of those afraid of death. They didn't want to think that something as rare and valuable, and fleeting, as sentience could simply pass along to the ether after life was over, so they invented a means by which it might be spared.
Lern2beimmortal, human.
T.H.
The soul is not a contrivance at all and it saddens me that some think this way. We are not just physical beings. If we were, then why would we even think about death? What would be the point in wondering what happens after our life here is ended?
But because we are also spriritual beings we have desires, hopes, beliefs, and cares. Though our bodies may rot away or be made into ashes, our soul is eternal. How else but through a soul do we come to be who we really are, which is very different from every other person on the planet? What's the measure of a person, if not by the soul their imbued with?
Shirley, death is not the end - and this is not just some vain attempt at sparing my life. I value my life, but it's also forfeit. And I know Someone who values it even more than I do. My allegiance is to Him. I've also been thinking about this because my grandmother recently passed away and when something like that happens you begin to think about your parents and your own mortality.
But we have a purpose, and it's not just to take up space. I believe we were created for something more...
Torias:
Dewd, U R not imortal k? U ware a bathrob n shuut firbals @ darnkess, lol.
...I must now shoot myself for typing the above... >_>
Bridge:
Torias is silly, and means no offense.
As for me... I don't know. But I do wonder, so far no satisfactory answers have presented themselves. The problem of course is that of those with first-hand knowledge has come back and share the experience. At least, not in recent times.
*shrug*
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