The Reaper

Everybody thinks they will live forever, or at least it seems that way. We ignore the fact that God didn't issue a warranty when we left the factory. We are all going to die. It's the one truth in this life and we all try to ignore it, just like we try to ignore the hillybilly neighbor who's kid attends the same school as our kids because, unlike his unwed parents, that lucky kid hit the genetic lottery by having an IQ high enough to be the first in his family to finish grammar school.

I went to a wake recently. There were maybe sixty or seventy people in attendance and even though 50% of the attendees were statistically unlikely to see more that three or four more good years, the one valuable lesson we could have learned was missed.  I know death is painful for the survivors. The family of the decedent was upset and needed to share something profound. I understand. Just by being together at the wake we shared something valuable, but we missed the hard lesson.  We were looking in the wrong direction. It's like the guy with the coin that disappears from his left hand and shows up in his right. We were looking at the wrong thing at the wrong time.

The wake was in a nice room with a good view of some grass and and some trees, the carpet didn't have any gum in it and that is about the best you can expect at a wake. There was a microphone passed around and people talked about the guy who died. They talked about his life, or more accurately they talked about some of the highlights of his life. I listened.  Nobody mentioned the bad stuff, then we had some hors d'oeuvres. That just seems to be what you do at these things. I don't know why.

Here is my idea; Keep the microphone thing, but change the topic. We could have spent the time talking about those who are still standing and what we can do with the rest of the day.  I am not being disrespectful, or at least I am not trying to be. I know it sounds unconventional or wrong or somehow seems to be not a very Christian thing to do, but before you dismiss it, just consider it. The guy who passed is gone. It's over for him. At this point, he doesn't care one way or the other.  It matters for the rest of us who are still here.  We are are all going to get on the same bus someday, with the prepaid fare and no refunds. So why not improve things before we are done? Why not do it better? Or try to? Why not take the chance and start our lives now, right from this point in time?   Live like there is no tomorrow? Save a kitten if that is what you want to do. Save a soul. Do whatever it is that makes you live a better life, given what time you have left.  The opportunity is now.  Choose to live with purpose.

I want to do this because it makes sense to me. I wasn't close with the guy who passed, so I don't know if he would have liked my idea or not, but I don't care. I like it. I am going to do it. I am going to try to live as Thoreau suggested.  Its a bold step for me.

And if I can quote that great philosopher/poet/author

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Your chance of dying is the same no matter what you do. There are no death alternatives. The undeniable scythe of the Reaper gleans a daily harvest of human wheat with quarter given to none. Go forth deliberately.