Nothing but Fleeting, Vanishing Vapours

“Death is not the greatest loss in life.  The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live”

Play the video below before continuing to read on.

Death is a leveling plane. Some try to run from it, some try to delay it, some ignore it, some embrace it, but ultimately every.single.one of us has to face it. There’s no escape, there’s nowhere to hide. You can pretend it doesn’t exist, you can put it at the back of your mind, but it will find you one day, possibly taking you by surprise. We are nothing but ashes and dust, appearing for a short time, living our ephemeral lives before age and time catch up to our physical bodies. What happens next? Certainly not a video game where you simply insert another silvery token once “Game Over” appears. I used to wonder (and fear) what really happens after one dies. Where do we go to? Will we still feel and think? Or does everything just go blank>. Seems surreal that your very existence and all your thoughts can abruptly end there. Surely there’s more to that than a dark void and black screen of nothingness. Right?

Do we live again as some people believe? Reincarnate and live repeated lives? I find that hard to believe. Even if that’s true, would all your thoughts and memories carry on to the “next life”? As an infant, would you think like how “you” used to? Probably not huh. That means technically that’s not “you”. “You” as a thinking, conscious being would cease to exist, no matter what actually happens next. Or perhaps our spirits dwell on in this earth.. still thinking, still feeling, just no physical body. “Ghosts” are what we commonly term them. I find that hard to believe too. If that’s true then I’d be freaked to think I’ll be spending eternity wandering around aimlessly with 10billion other aimless spirits who probably still get into occasional arguments, disagreements and such. Death is never easy to comprehend.

It takes a great deal of courage to face up to this uncertainty. Some people know death is approaching, like the terminally ill for instance. I admire those who fight on to live. Life is precious and not to be taken for granted. Unfortunately (and foolishly) some choose to embrace death prematurely, for whatever reasons. Often, this inflicts a great deal of pain on loved ones. It is heart-wrenching for those “left behind”, having to live with the memories, regrets, pain, frustration and most of all, the lack of understanding why such a thing happened. Nobody can truly understand the pain and sorrow, at least no mortal beings can. What fellow humans can do is offer physical and emotional support. Only one being can truly understand every thought and feeling of ours – the Omnipresent, Omnipotent Lord of all who we owe our very lives to. He counts your every teardrop shed, every minute feeling of pain, every unanswered question plagued with. He allows us to go through some of life’s trials because He has given us free will. We have the power to choose. The devil understands this, and tries hard to persuade us to choose anything over God, and to go against God’s will. Believe in yourself, many will proclaim today. YOU have the power to create your own destiny, everything in life is created by YOU. Ask the universe and it will be given to you. If bad things happen to you, you probably attracted such negativity into your life. Where does that leave God in the equation?

God doesn’t like to see us suffer. He does allow it though, as stated in 1 Peter 1:6-7

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ”

The devil likes to see us suffer, because it heightens our likelihood of turning away from God. I feel a great deal of  pain when I see close friends going through suffering. It’s heart-wrenching. It’s also dangerous for the soul. The Bible contains all the answers to life on earth, and reveals what is to come after. I urge all to pick up a copy and discover all there is to know about life and death. In the verse I just quoted, the second word “this” refers to an inheritance that does not fade away – eternal life and salvation through Jesus Christ. Something we can rejoice in, because we have the power to choose this. A power even the ruler of earth, the devil, cannot take away. It is a power granted by the most powerful of all. The plan of salvation is all laid out in the Bible.

To those who are suffering, I hope and pray that you will be comforted with a peace that surpasses all understanding. In the meantime, here’s my humanly, humble support – a song which might sum up all the pain. My Immortal – Evanescence.

I’m so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
‘Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won’t leave me alone

These wounds won’t seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There’s just too much that time cannot erase

[Chorus:]
When you cried I’d wipe away all of your tears
When you’d scream I’d fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I’m bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me

These wounds won’t seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There’s just too much that time cannot erase

[Chorus]

I’ve tried so hard to tell myself that you’re gone
But though you’re still with me
I’ve been alone all along

[Chorus]

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