EDIT: I will add that ever since I became the parent of small children, I find myself far more worried about their mortality than my own. Nothing is scarier than having a very small, seriously ill child and feeling relatively powerless to do anything about it.
I think about it a bit more these days. In the last couple of years, I've lost a child (my wife had miscarriage...to be clear...we didn't know that the child had passed until the sonogram), and, fairly recently, a friend of mine whom I've known since high school finally lost a 2-year battle with Leukemia.
Without breaking the rules of the forum thread in discussing religion, I will just say that I am a professing Christian. My forum name is transliterated form of a Greek word, σύνδουλος, used in a few times the New Testament ; it's a word that means "fellow slave." So, my beliefs about the afterlife, are sort of informed by my faith. I wouldn't say that I have a religious faith because of what I believe about the afterlife...though, that is what drives a lot, if not most, people to become religious. Because my friend shared my faith, I do believe I'll see him again. I also believe that I will see my unborn child again, but my reasons for believing this would lead to a theological discussion I can not have here.
It should be noted that the friend of mine, Robert, admitted to me that had a "long, dark night of the soul" and felt anger at his situation during his first series of treatments. To make a long story short, from the judgment of most people, he probably would have had every right to have a bitter outlook on life. He lost his own father at the age of 3, grew up in the projects, spent more time in his youth taking care of his mother than the other way around; yet he was always strong in his beliefs, even in his anger at his situation. The disease was terrible and the treatment was painful; by the end, he didn't even look like the same guy. The saddest thing to me is that when he passed away, he had a young family of his own... a child that was 3 and another that was 5. It just goes to show that, no matter what, this world doesn't really play "fair."
Honestly, Robert was just one of those guys who seemed too good for this world in a lot of ways. That's just my opinion, and I know it's hyperbole. Robert would beg to differ. His attitude through the whole thing was a great encouragement to me; as I mentioned, he did feel initially angry, but he did turn it around and tried to do as many positive things for his family and other people as he could. I wonder if my own reaction would have been half as classy, positive, and impactful as his; to be honest, I don't know. His memory still inspires me, though, and I'm sure it will for the rest of my life.
In keeping with that reasoning, I guess I don't worry about death; I do worry about reaching the end of my life haven't not done enough for my other people and in the name of Christ, whom I profess to follow. Not because I'm worried that this will affect my outcome in the afterlife (as I come from a theological belief that human works or goodness can not save you...as a friend put it, "It's not faith and works, faith or works, but a faith that works"), but it's more of a matter of not wasting the one life here that I have.
Topic: Your Mortality (Read 5155 times)
