death

maggie's aunt passed away last week from cancer. she (maggie, not her aunt) asked me last night how i felt about death. even though i had a brief semi-goth period in highschool and i dressed up gothic for fun some nights, i was never one to dwell on it. depression and suffering are much more fun to fill your mind with ;). besides a month in highschool where three friends died (suicide, illness, climbing accident) and a pair of dead dogs, i've never really had to face it. all my family on my dad's side is still alive, both my mom's parents have passed, but having never really known them, it affected me little. so ayways, here are my thoughts...

death just happens

i think the main way i look at death is pretty much my shit happens view on life. i don't think god necessarily plans our deaths. just like everything else in our lives, the timing of our passing is not certain. we just die. some people die too young, others live too long. we aren't born with our time of death already set. some deaths happen by accidents, others we bring on ourselves with disease, and i think that others have god's hand in happening (i.e. ro relieve suffering).

is death good?

yes and no. if someone is suffering from a terminal disease or something similar, i think death is can be a good thing. if someone is so old that they cannot care for themselves and are pretty much a burden on everyone around them, then death can be both a blessing to them and their loved ones. because of this, i think euthanizing the terminally ill and elderly can be moral and should be allowed.

death can really suck too

for the loved ones of those who have died, death usually sucks. even with the realizing that their suffering is over, it can and should be painful to have them gone. even worse is for those who die too young. car accidents, suicide, disease, and other things can take the lives of persons who had so much more to offer in the world. it can be a sudden loss for the loved ones and a life left unfulfilled for those who die. sure, they might be in a better place, or have a different mission to fulfill, but if that were so, then we should all be dying sooner. just like my stubbed toe, deaths can just happen without any purpose. it sucks. it's unexpected. it hurts a lot. god did not plan it. it's just up to us on how we are going to deal with it.

aint jesus the coolest?

as hard at it is, at least we can have the hope that it isn't the end.

what about?

some people find relief in believing that death is something planned and foreknown by god. perhaps it's because i don't believe in god's absolute foreknowledge... i just don't see how it can help. if it were true, i'd find myself constantly searching for why this had to happen and i'd prolly find myself unimpressed with the answers. i'd hate to believe that the timing of my death was certain and that i ultimately had no control on how or when it would happen.