Did You Know You Are Going To Die?

We might think of death as the end of life, or as the beginning of an afterlife. Some people try to avoid it, others try to find it. At the end of the day, death cannot be nor avoided or found, does it only appear when it has to. I’ve heard people from different religions tell me that suicide is the only sin God never forgives, since life is the only gift God gave you for you to take it away. On the other hand, those who avoid life must be those who fear it. But why fear death? Will it be any more terrible than life itself? As Epictetus describes, “Let death and exile and everything that is terrible appear before your eyes every day, especially death” (21), we shall accept death in order to live accordingly. Maybe we don’t know death well that’s why we neglect it. Should we make it part of our every day in order to value our living?

As I started writing this blog, a question recurred to my mind: When you woke up this morning, did you know you were going to die? That question was asked several times during The Talking Of Pelham 123. Based on a terrorist attack in the middle of a normal day at New York City, the succession of events is everything but predictable or expected. I’m sure that on September 11, 2001 the people of New York and the world wouldn’t expect they would find death in one its meanest expressions. While I write this blog I’m not really sure whether if I’ll encounter death at the end of the road or not. Maybe those people who died never valued life. They were sure that they had their passage bought for death until their late 80’s or 90’s. Well, many people not past the age of 50 died on that day. So it goes. Then, when you woke up this morning did you know you were going to die?

Once I read about a man name Morris Schwartz who thought the only way to learning how to live was by learning how to die. When we achieve this then we are able to read the second part of what Epictetus thought: “You will never have anything contemptible in your thoughts or crave anything excessively” (21). By learning how to die, or accepting death as an everyday character, we will value life. We will learn how to live. When this happens, we won’t need to crave life or death excessively. By not needing more life or more death than what we have, we will be able to act our part well in this play of life. You don’t need explanations of why you are acting that way. You are just grateful to know there aren’t despicable aspects in your relationship between life and death. So, when you woke up this morning did you know you were going to die? I would say yes.