Do you fear death?

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Bradski said:
Frustrated more than anything. It’s like having to leave a party when it’s in full swing.

The older you get, the more you realise that there are things you won’t be able to do, places tht you won’t be able to visit, books you’ll never get around to read.

All that living left to do and no time left to live it…
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The burden of wanting to do things that involve dozens of lifetimes, and having only one lifetime to do it. Knowing that you’ll never experience just, for example, what it would be like to have chosen a different profession.

From my POV, I think about the words of St Therese of Liseaux, who faced the frustration of wanting to do so many things, and being unable to do them (not just because she was a nun, but females wouldn’t have been able to do everything she wanted to do anyway) but took consolation that this life was just a “warm up” stage to when the real vocation begins.
 
I can’t cite the place where I was reading it, but recently I did read that the gospel, the Good News, should take away our fear of death.

I did a brief survey of my immediate family’s death certificates, and I can see that all of them suffered before they died. I have so many physical problems, my doctor probably has my death certificate made out all but for the date of death. It confirms my resolve to say the Morning Offering prayer and offer up all my suffering.

(I don’t know why I have to re-affirm my offering up of suffering every day. can’t I just do that, once for all?)

Venezuelan Nobel-prize author Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote a book called “Love in the Time of Cholera” and if I remember correctly, there is an episode in the book where a man turns 70 and commits suicide, because he is afraid of getting old – “gerontophobia.”
 
I fear not living the life I was supposed to live.

Things unsaid, talents not used, good not done. Sins of omission more than commission.

I too am afraid of the how of dying.

I’ve been in a terrible car accident and injured. I’ve been in bad situations with dangerous people, illnesses and health conditions over the years.

I’ve watched others fight cancer.

Suffering is awful. Just awful. But, it can be harnessed for spiritual growth and used as a prayer for someone else’s good.

I would hope that I would be granted courage and strength if needed to help someone in a dangerous situation even if it could cost me my life. I’m thinking of a few weeks ago a mother who pushed her daughter to safety when a driver lost control of their vehicle.The story was posted here at CAF not too long ago.

I fear being found lukewarm in Love for God and my neighbor once I am on the other side.

I’ve written about this before, NDE (near death experiences). I am certain many NDE are fabrications, some are innocent brain tricks and some were contrived to make a buck selling a book. (Most of which are schlock IMHO.) But some, seem to be similar in a few ways that makes me amazed.

The natural inclination to live, to fight to come back to their loved ones at some point disappears. I’ve read enough and listened to a few where the person might have suffered numerous painful injuries, or ‘died’ on the surgical table and find themselves in blissful Loving Presence of pure Loving Peace that is absolutely irresistible. They don’t want to come back, but are sent back. Often protesting when they are, they experience all the horrible pain and drudgery of recovery. But, they are often no longer afraid of death.

I wouldn’t use a NDE to buoy my belief in an afterlife.But they are interesting.
 
I don’t know for sure that I will go to heaven because God is the one to judge that. All I can do is do my best to stay near to Him and persevere till the end. So I’m afraid of straying from the Lord because what determines our fate is if we persevered till the end or not in our love for the Lord.

The physical process of death doesn’t sound like a pleasant thing to go through.

There is some fear there because like I said God is the judge and like Paul says that he has “not yet attained” but runs as one to win the race. Now if the apostle Paul said that he has not yet attained than I know I have to keep running this race too. I want to make sure I’m with Him on the other side. But the most important thing in this relationship we have with God is trust. I must trust Him. His love for me. That I have infact known Him and this relationship will continue after death.

Like C.S. Lewis said its like opening a car door and stepping from one reality into the next.
I just want to make sure I step into being with Him forever and does one really know for sure they will be with God forever, I mean He is the only judge of that. I guess thats where trust comes in. I trust in you Jesus. The best and most simple prayer.
 
I, like others, fear some causes of death, and I also fear being caught by death when I’m not ready, but other than that – no, I don’t fear death. That may well change when I’m in the middle of it, however.
Lion_IRC said:
I’m interested in whether your alleged lack of fear affects your self-preservation instincts.
Do you look left and right before you cross the road?
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The above question was not addressed to me, but I’ll answer it anyway. Yes, I look both ways. Religiously.
 
Bradski said:
Frustrated more than anything. It’s like having to leave a party when it’s in full swing.

The older you get, the more you realise that there are things you won’t be able to do, places that you won’t be able to visit, books you’ll never get around to read.

All that living left to do and no time left to live it…
Click to expand...
I believe in the afterlife – what the Catholic Church teaches – but I still feel that longing for more time to engage in the adventures that life offers! As you say, it is a profound frustration as I grow older.

There’s a total solar eclipse this August just a couple hundred miles from here. I did some research and discovered there will only be one more anywhere near me in my lifetime. In my middle-age years, I’ve come to take seriously that some opportunities may be a last-in-a-lifetime sort of thing.

As a friend of mine says, the reality of death gives meaning to life.
 
Not really. All I can do is try my best and trust in God’s mercy, to put it simply.
 
When I was younger, death used to terrify me. But I have grown more in the love of God and feel more loved by him, so I’m not afraid any more.

And then there’s all the dearly loved ones that I have lost, and most times I just want to go and be with them.
 
Heaven is not a fantasyland where we hope to go someday, but the Kingdom of God is already present and where any of the righteous can go at any time God chooses. Instead of our becoming righteous by mortifying the flesh, we lust ofter the very cheap pleasures of this miserable and corrupt world that prevent us from entering the Kingdom. Why be scared of dying and entering such a kingdom?

Death is the gateway to everlasting LOVE! Real LOVE will last forever!
 
I remember a dream early on, being chased by a wolf. I got away by waking up, only to realize there was no escaping it. Win each battle, only to lose the war.
I didn’t think I’d live to thirty, later that I would not see fifty, like my father, and most recently, that because of medical issues not make it much past sixty; but here I am, ready to go, but saddened by the prospect that we all face.
The idea of an afterlife has only become reasonable within the last few years. For 95% of my life, the way I saw it - this is it; but that what this is, is eternally known, not decided by me as to what it is, but by Something infinitely greater and wiser.
The fear of the idea of death disappeared early on with the realization that the Source of my being is a compassionate, unchanging Now.
Life brings what it brings, and hitting rock bottom, I sort of died spiritually and was reborn.
Illusory in comparison, there is nothing to fear about the end of my individual existence.
That said, there is more to who we are than what we can imagine. As part of humanity we exist in relation to our Creator, and within the relationships we have with one another, and with all creation. Within the Beatific Vision, we surrender our being to the beauty, goodness, joy and glory of Existence, to have it returned to us that we may again be One with Love itself.
As to the resurrection, while it makes perfect rational sense and is what is taught, it doesn’t quite resonate with me yet. But then, I am tired.
 
Lion_IRC said:
I’m interested in whether your alleged lack of fear affects your self-preservation instincts.
Do you look left and right before you cross the road?
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Yes, it would be a programmed reaction that we are used to do, also I wouldn’t want to cause any damage to the person driving or feel any physical pain.
 
That wasn’t supposed to be a real post, lol 😛 I guess I clicked submit.

But, I have a hard time believing so many people wouldn’t fear death if they were put into a situation of real danger. The human will to live is enormously powerful, and the innate response to its jeopardy is equally powerful.
 
TK421 said:
That wasn’t supposed to be a real post, lol 😛 I guess I clicked submit.

But, I have a hard time believing so many people wouldn’t fear death if they were put into a situation of real danger. The human will to live is enormously powerful, and the innate response to its jeopardy is equally powerful.
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Haha your real response was submitted first 😛
The natural reaction to danger is escape and fear, but the thread is more directed towards the mindful thoughts of death, it may not be fearful for some.
 
ANV said:
Are you afraid of dying, is it strange that I am not afraid of dying, maybe I would be afraid and escape of a natural danger when it occurs, just as a natural feeling and reaction, but in general as my mind does speak, I don’t fear death, not even a bit, does anyone else feel that way? Do you think it would be different when you grow older?
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I feel like Woody Allen - I’m not afraid to die I just Don’t want to be there when it happens. 😃

I have heard it said the older we get the less we fear death.
 
I have seen people experience a whole range of emotions when they know they are going to die.
 
TK421 said:
That wasn’t supposed to be a real post, lol 😛 I guess I clicked submit.

But, I have a hard time believing so many people wouldn’t fear death if they were put into a situation of real danger. The human will to live is enormously powerful, and the innate response to its jeopardy is equally powerful.
Click to expand...
There are two questions. Are you afraid of death (the state of not living)? No. Are you afraid of dying (the process or event)? Yes, will it be a painful method?

Have you been in a situation where you thought you might likely die? When I was kayaking in the ocean a few years ago it flipped over and I feel out. Try as I might I couldn’t get back on as it kept flipping each time I attempted to get back on. Exhausted, I noticed the currents had pushed me further out to sea, at which point I sighed and resigned “So this is how it ends?”.

There was no fear but just a calm acceptance of my situation as I continued to devise other options. Long story short, 15 minutes later a lifeguard boat sped out of the harbor to rescue me, though my pride was severely damaged for requiring such help.
 
TK421 said:
That wasn’t supposed to be a real post, lol 😛 I guess I clicked submit.

But, I have a hard time believing so many people wouldn’t fear death if they were put into a situation of real danger. The human will to live is enormously powerful, and the innate response to its jeopardy is equally powerful.
Click to expand...
When someone says “Are you afraid of death?” I think of it in the sense of “Are you afraid of no longer living”. For me that is no, simply because I have hope of eternal life in life in Heaven. On the other hand I have seen people try to cling to life at all costs only to gain a few more months. That is what I think of when people are afraid of death; an attempt to stave off the inevitable with any and every means possible.

You seem to be talking about the fear of dying, which is something completely different in my mind. I would agree that there is an innate desire to preserve one’s life, but I wouldn’t say that is always motivated by a fear of death.

For instance, if I were crossing the street and a truck appeared out of no where I would try to jump out of the way. On the other hand if a doctor told me that I had 3 months to live and they could prolong my life by 6 to 9 months, but the cost would be high, I would decline the treatment.

Perhaps it is better to say I fully accept that my life will end and pray for a happy death.
 
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