Wednesday, May 17, 2006

What Happens to Us When We Die?

This may sound like a childish question to some, but eventually, everyone ponders this thought. Human mortality is a fact of life, but do any of us really take it seriously unless it is our time to go?

This is something I never gave a second thought when I was younger. What pre-teen or teenager wants to think about dying, much less the hereafter? Part of youth is that feeling of being invincible, nothing can touch you!

For me, getting married and then having children helped to make me aware that I will not always be around. It's funny how being depended upon by others accomplishes this. I take better care of myself in a lot of different ways solely because I want to be there for the people who need me for as long as possible.

Another life event that forces you to ponder death is when you lose loved ones. For me it was grandparents, an uncle, I lost my first wife who was only 35 at the time. The relative age of those you lose affects your reaction to it. When my grandmother and grandfather both died at 84 years of age, it was very sad for those of us that could not see them again in this life, but definitely not a surprise. When someone dies at an age that is considered "too young" it is a tragedy and everyone is shocked. No one sees that coming. My uncle died after years of drug use, and it seemed like a waste that he didn't clean himself up at some point before he left us.

So the condition of the person dying and our perception of how useful their lives were all help to form our reaction to death.

How often have you pondered the question of your own mortality?

What specific events brought this to your mind?

Have you come to any specific conclusions about death, such as what happens after?

9 comments:

Cynthia said...

How often have you pondered the question of your own mortality?

All the time... It's always there in the front of my head

What specific events brought this to your mind?

I had so many people die (mother, father, sister, brother, uncles, aunts, etc.)


Have you come to any specific conclusions about death, such as what happens after?

Death is a natural part of life. One thing for sure, matter can be neither created nor destroyed, it just changes form. This is my non-spiritual/non-religious answer...

Bullfrog said...

Of course, death is part of the natural cycle of life, but what about after death? You say that matter just changes form, are you referring to how the human body decomposes and turns to dust?

EmergingPhoenix said...

How often have you pondered the question of your own mortality?

Occasionally

What specific events brought this to your mind?

Sometimes, the thought of my Grandparent's age and health. Sometimes, the dire situation of the Black race and the amount of time I have to realize (or never witness) change. Or various other things that challenge my existence.

Have you come to any specific conclusions about death, such as what happens after?

This post begins to touch on how I feel about mortality. I am really not sure what happens after death, but I am inclined to believe that our existence transcends our physical bodies.

Bullfrog said...

Thanks for chiming in Emerging. I have heard alot of stories of the supernatural, and am glad to say I have never had one that included a haunting, sounds creepy.

Your thoughts on the soul are interesting as well. I believe we are made up of 3 parts: body, sould, and spirit. What the Bible sometimes refers to as the "heart" can be translated "soul" in some instances.

Darni said...

How often have you pondered the question of your own mortality?
Every now and then.

What specific events brought this to your mind?
When my mother died was the first time but it was more of my pondering WHERE IS SHE NOW? then my father died and of course my maternal great-grandparents. Other specifics, when I'm angry and tired of the world . . . it is then that I want to believe that there is something better in a next life and not just a wasting away to dust in a casket.

Have you come to any specific conclusions about death, such as what happens after?
I haven't come to any conclusions because I don't have solid proof. I've had a few experiences that I've easily explained away except for one. Before my mother died, years ago, we used to make promises that whomever died first, that person would have to come back and give a sign or say something to let the others know she was okay. I never took it seriously. After she died, years later, we'd all but forgotten about the promise. The evening following my mother's funeral, my youngest sister and I watching tv in my room heard a sound come from my vanity table. I turned down the sound and we heard it again. There were a few bottles of perfume, the normal vanity stuff on it. But also a large shell. I went to the table to examine it but nothing looked out of place. I moved things around, searching for that sound. I pressed the shell and it produced that rocking sort of noise. I pressed it several times to make sure and my sister even said: "That's it." Well I stood there for the longest time trying to figure out HOW this shell could move, rock, without being pressed (not even lightly touched). Of course I told my sister, it must have been wind or something moving the shell. She looked at me with suspicion because there were no open windows and the bathroom door (next to the vanity area) was closed. Besides there was no way any kind of breeze or wind could move it, the shell was pretty big. We didn't discuss it, just turned up the volume -- louder -- to the television. Later I remembered the conversation I had with my mother. Of course I brushed the thought aside, telling myself that surely if such a thing were possible, my mother would find a better, more sophisticated way of communicating with me.

Anonymous said...

How often have you pondered the question of your own mortality?

I rarely think it.

What specific events brought this to your mind?

If I do, it's in relation to wondering if I'm doing things right now that serve my purpose here, and if there are other things that I need to get started on to fulfill that purpose.

Have you come to any specific conclusions about death, such as what happens after

Cynthia's response to this question hit the nail on the head for me, but I'll explain it a little further. I see myself as a manifestation of God's energy and so I think that when I've fulfilled my purpose here and die in a physical form, I believe that I will take on another form of energy (possibly physical, possibly not) that will fulfill whatever new purpose God has planned.

Dave Miller said...

How often have you pondered the question of your own mortality? More so now as the aches and pains tend to linger and I get closer to 50.

What specific events brought this to your mind? As I age and see more and more friends pass away, I think it inevitably leads me to become more reflective on this front.

Have you come to any specific conclusions about death, such as what happens after? Unlike a lot of Christians who claim to have it all figured out, all I hope I know for sure is that I'll be with Jesus.

Mr. Grey Ghost said...

How often have you pondered the question of your own mortality?

At least once a week.

What specific events brought this to your mind?

Could be anything really, sometimes thinking about a family member who's passed or just sometimes thinking about my own life and what I need/want to get done.

Have you come to any specific conclusions about death, such as what happens after?

I'm fairly simplistic in that I believe in an afterlife, judgment and that my deeds on Earth will decide whether or not I go to heaven or hell.

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