"On Living With Mortality"

Across the board, without exception, regardless of our age, station in life, gender, or where we live on the planet, it is something we all do, you know.  As part of this human race each and every one of us lives with mortality, whether or not we acknowledge it, deny it, accept it, or even realize it. 

mortality:  the condition of being susceptible to death

It has been said that the only two things we can be assured of in this life are death and taxes.  From the time of conception man lives under that known reality, a death sentence of the physical body.  The one unknown is the time, if it comes sooner or later.

Arguments are made for and against causes, issues, and various points of view the world over. Mankind disagrees on almost everything, but there is no disagreement on the state of man’s mortality.  It is never challenged nor argued; it cannot be.  Mortality is a universal equalizer. 

A family member, one in his late 80’s, had passed away, and a mental picture was given to me. It was of the sea, the tide rolling in.  As the waves worked their way in and then receded, the beach was swept clean.  “Look around,” I was told.  “How many people do you see who are 125 years old?”  Mortality:  one picture is worth a thousand words.  There is not a one who won’t be taken from this physical life.

A childhood friend was lamenting the changes taking place in the physical body.  And change is part and parcel of aging.  “Our body really is the only part of us that ages,” I expressed.  “Oh, that’s good news,” I was told, with a touch of sarcasm.  Yes, it is good news, as the essence of me, my soul and spirit can neither be touched nor affected as my body is, and they are eternal.

So how does one live with mortality without negativity, becoming overcome by depression, developing a grim approach to life, or viewing life through lenses of morbidity? 

As with all things in life, each of us approaches our own mortality in an individual, personal manner. 

For some a “bucket” list is created, with the intent to do as much as is humanly possible in this lifetime, fulfilling wishes and desires.  For others, a deep resignation takes place as fear of the unknown lurks, hidden in the shadows.  Still others develop an “I’m just not going to think about it” attitude.  Personally, my mortality is countered by my belief in immortality.   

immortality:  the condition of not being susceptible to death 

Within me is a childhood memory about my grandmother.  When I was very young, I remember being told of her near death experience.  She had been seriously ill with a severe fever, and it wasn't certain if she was going to live or not.  When she finally began to recover she told of having been in an idyllic place with green fields everywhere and a warm light. 

There are more than a few recorded incidents of those whose bodies have shut down and of their experiences in another dimension, another realm, of life after death before returning to this physical existence on earth.    

One notable incident is that of a renowned neurosurgeon who was in a coma for several days with bacterial meningitis. There is no recovery from this condition; the outcome is either death or a vegetative state.  However, not only did he fully recover, but his skepticism about near death experiences was wiped away as he entered that realm called eternity.  His experience is worth reading at ebenalexander.com.  That is immortality.

I am of the belief—no, I have the knowledge and conviction that the end of my physical life is only the beginning of another way of life, one which is governed by immortality. 

My body is aging, changing, but I’m not.  I do not have a fear of death and, if possible, when that happens, I would like to be the one who returns to tell you all that awaits.  But then my experiences never make a believer out of others.  You have to have your own.

"The bodies we now have are weak and can die.  But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal.  Then the scriptures will come true, 'Death has lost the battle.'"