Death and Dying

 

Mornin'
Inevitable? Yes. Easy to deal with? A resounding NO! Death and dying are perhaps the most misunderstood phenomenon known to man. I think, perhaps, that we struggle with our mortality because we simply do not want this life as we know it to end.

Sure, there are many folks who struggle with various illnesses that implant the thoughts of dying a premature life in their minds. But do these people really want to die or are they simply confused as to their purpose in this world?

Then there are those who die a senseless death in many other ways. We can understand how people die from drug or alcohol related illnesses; it seems like they meet their end because of the choices they make. There are countless others who died by the fickle powerof choice.

Then there are other deaths that we expect. This would mainly include old age and death from wars and various other means.

What I can't seem to wrap my mind around are the deaths occurring everyday from disease and other issues like starvation and abuse. When children pay the price it is particularly more difficult for me to understand. When children die a senseless death as a direct result of the sins of their parents or any other adult, this particularly troubles me.

I have recently been faced with deaths from both ends of the spectrum. I lost my nephew - age 25 - last week to a car accident in which the driver was drunk. My friend also lost her mother yesterday to basically old age and I have a cousin in his sixth year of stage 4 lung cancer, a cancer that should have killed him in the first six months. This is a broad spectrum of death and dying.

My take on this whole situation is probably not as unique as I sometimes think. I believe that God's plan is just as confusing to us and our plan and actions are to God. I am certain we will never understand God's will and I don't think He wants us to to worry ourselves with spending too much time chasing our tail. What I do think is that we should ask for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry it out. Knowing what God's will is for our personal lives does not equate to know how He works in the grand scheme of things.We can certainly learn what his will is for ourselves but knowing his will for the rest of the world is simply unattainable. I believe we can always gain a better understanding of how the world operates but should not expect ourselves to 'arrive' at a definitive destination. Just sayin'.

Peace