January 4, 2015
(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and
illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)
Another
visit to a funeral home today. These visits are becoming more frequent lately. At least we are all in this together. Everyone shares the same future
although our paths to the end might vary. No one gets out of this life alive—it
is a common bond of humanity.
Although death is never pleasant, in a way it is a gift.
Suppose death
were not a given and our lives were to go on indefinitely. Forget about the
logistics of over population and aging bodies. Let’s suppose those issues would
not be problems. As of 2014, the average life expectancy for the United States is 79.56
years according to the CIA Fact Book, 77.11 for males and 81.94 for females. In
the hypothetical deathless world, those end numbers would not exist. Suppose there is no
average end of life expectancy. Suppose we would continue to live indefinitely.
Would that
change the way we live now? I suspect that it might. It would be so easy to
say, “I’ll do it tomorrow” because tomorrow would be guaranteed. It is the gift
of death that makes now most precious. It is the impending final farewell that
makes us appreciate today. Death is the catalyst for us to give our lives
meaning.
Today’s gift is death.
You can read my other posts on this project here:
Very good lesson...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Darlene.
ReplyDelete