It’s a good thing to think about your death 3 times each year. My motivation has been for financial planning but when that all was settled after my son was born, I’ve been spending more time considering the whole topic of death and what it means to me. It’s difficult to imagine what the days would like for my wife and son after dying. What brings me the most grief is not being there when they need me. I won’t be upset about not seeing more of the world or experiencing the joys of retirement. And I’m not worried about losing all the stuff I’ve accumulated. In fact, I’d want to leave as little as possible for my family to “clean up”.
I finished reading the book “Love Wins” by Rob Bell a couple months ago and there was some section that explored the idea that religion is often sold as the way to avoid hell. Sort of like an insurance policy guaranteeing the aftermath at death. And I’d agree that this emphasis on heaven and paradise isn’t healthy, responsible, accurate or in the bible. If all you cared about was buying and securing your ticket to heaven, then why continue to live on this earth? If your life on earth doesn’t matter compared to the afterlife, then why pay your mortgage or recycle?
My developing theory is that each religion (and even non-religions like atheism) provides a definition of life and death. They all answer life’s FAQs. And each belief system can have more than one sub-system with slightly differing definitions. Factor in your own slant and interpretations, and it’s quite a spectrum. And it’s in this way that I’m more convinced that there are more ways to God (but that’s a not really on this depressing subject of death). In fact I started listening to this guy talk about how Jesus is the only way to God, but there is more than one way to Jesus. Anyways…
Out of this broad spectrum, you can imagine the blending and noise that results. And so to stand out, belief systems pick out core subjects to emphasize the differences (rather than the similarities). So why is death a key issue? Especially considering that I don’t think about death everyday… Can I tell you what I do think about at least once each hour of the day? Love. The people that I love… the things I’d love to do after work… what I love about my car… feeling love for my family… lots more chatter about love than death. Hmm…
