Darkness of Death

Death is a subject that few discuss willingly. It is an uneasy topic at best. However, death is inevitable from the moment we take our first breaths and none of us are guaranteed any specific time frame for life. Death is one of the darker subjects of which man avoids. And yet there is something within that darkness that also intrigues.

Death is two entirely different events for the two distinct entities of human existence. For the body, death brings about the ceasing of vital function. The body shuts down and will never function again, but rather return to the elements from which it was created. For the vital essence of man – the soul, spirit, or whatever term you choose – death is not an ending, but yet a new beginning. It is so much a beginning that none truly know what to expect.

I, for one, believe that a force of such a nature, that not only animates, but also creates, evolves, develops and learns, cannot possibly be extinguished at the death of the body. It must be released and continue on into what is, for us, unknown. I cannot imagine it any other way. Whether that force has a specific destination (heaven or hell?) or whether it returns to this earth in another vessel, there is no doubt in my mind that a force of that strength cannot be destroyed merely by the act of dying within the human body.

Each of us draws our uniqueness, our individuality, from the facets of our life force, our spirit. It is what causes us to be who we are, to act, to react, to think critically, to view analytically, and to make decisions based upon our interpretation of the world and its happenings. We are personified by the force of life and enhanced by the unknown destination of that force at the moment of death. It we could only remember that a force as complex as our spirit, our being, contains strength that must surely exist beyond death, then perhaps the darkness of death will cease to inspire fear and dread.