Death is Inevitable

Our life begins somewhere deep inside someone else. We are introduced to our own little microscopic universe when we are conceived. We all know that we spend up to or more than nine months preparing to be thrust out into a cold, harsh environment where we have no idea what to expect.

There is no manual on being a baby. You just are. Helpless. Tiny. Hoping that this next environment will be safe.

Hopefully the people that receive us and care for us are tendered to this new labor of love. Our life depends on it.

When a person muses about where we are for our lifetime, and what we are surrounded by, it is startling to realize that we are not the biggest creature in our world, nor are we the smallest.

Then, as we ponder the fact that we are stuck on a spinning rock in the middle of nowhere, and that somewhere, above us, is a creature that is watching us and noting every move that we make, everything we say, and everything we think about.

Initially, we are watched by the two people who created us. The people who will come to be called our mom and dad.

We are toted around by them and force fed things from them that may or may not be what we would like to have. We don't have any way to communicate if we are cold, or wet or have a leg cramp. We just exist and hope for the best.

We grow up, we find someone to share our life with, and we manage to create our own family.

We watch them grow up and don't realize that we are also growing older. Time passes and suddenly we get a pain. We go to the doctor and they don't seem to find a problem. Then, another pain. Back to the doctor. Still no answers.

Then, all of a sudden, someone discovers that the reason that you have pain is because your kidneys are not functioning. Your body is losing its function. You are starting to fade away. Your heart starts to fluctuate. Skip a beat now and then. Your blood pressure starts to slow down.

One night, you go to sleep and your blood pressure slows down more and more, and then, stops completely.

We are completely void of body function. We are dead.

So. What now? Obviously we are not going to be walking around and talking to anyone. We are not going to be going out for lunch today.

Nope. We are done. But, are we somewhere? Are we in a better place?

Some people believe that they are going to heaven, but really do not know what that means. Neither do I. I know that in the Bible, Jesus said that he would go prepare a place for me in his father's house. A place with many rooms.

So. If I only have a little knowledge, I would picture a bee hive with millions of combs.

He also says we must be born again. Well. If he says we must be born again, that would make sense. We were born the first time from a puddle of amniotic fluid. When we are old and we die, we are like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. The soul that makes us who we are, leaves our body and continues on to wherever this new experience will take us. We take no one with us. We go alone.

I have lost two relatives in the past month. They were older and their health faded quickly and they died.

I'm happy for them that they are in a better place. I know that eventually the same fate will happen to me. I will miss them. I will think about them because I remember events that happened to them when they were with me. I also remember stories that were told by the family.

Death is inevitable. It is a new process and it will be interesting to see where we end up next.

The funeral is Sunday. We plan to go to it. The body is prepared for viewing. The funeral is not for the person who died, really. It is a time for family to get together and realize that we are all going to end up in this very same environment ourselves, eventually.

Death is inevitable.