I'm sure you have heard before that we won't get out of this world alive. Meaning, none of us living today will be alive 80, 90 or 100 years from today. Accepting our own mortality, coming to grips to our eventual death is not something I really thought much about until I turned 40 years old. When you are young, you foolishly think you will live forever. But, eventually, as you get older, you realize that you are not immortal, that you do not have infinite years to live. It's something that is difficult to accept. Many people live like they will have no tomorrows and plan accordingly. Then you have some people who live more in 25 years than some who have lived twice that long. "Live for today because tomorrow is not promised to you." If I heard that once, I heard it a million times from my mother. She may or may not have been right. But, that glosses over the very idea of mortality. Should one live for today simply because tomorrow is not promised? No, I don't agree with that at all. But, I do think you should live your life with as much joy and happiness as you can. As you get older, into your sixties as I have, you come to the realization you don't have many years left on this earth. If I live as long as both my grandfathers, I have maybe 15 years of life left in me. That's a bit frightening to think about. But, I have come to grips with my mortality.
I guess my whole point in this post on mortality is that since we don't know how long we will live, it is best to enjoy each day as best you possibly can. I will be the first to admit I don't always practice my own advice. We are not immortal. We have to accept that someday we will face death. If you are a Christian, as I am, then you face death with some trepidation but with the belief you will live again in Heaven. Not even Christians welcome death, the end of their mortal lives. But, we accept our death with the satisfaction we shall live with Jesus Christ for eternity. Now, some people will say this is all nonsense. Some will say once you die, that's it for you. There is nothing else. I don't accept that. I don't accept that my life and that of everyone else is just one big accident. We were all placed in a mortal world for a reason. What that reason may be, I won't know for sometime, I hope. The end of my mortality is approaching. But, I do not fear it.
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