December 20th, 2021
Do you then ponder how the supreme of human evils, the surest mark of the base and cowardly, is not death, but the fear of death? I urge you to discipline yourself against such fear, direct all your thinking, exercises, and reading this way—and you will know the only path to human freedom.
As an adolescent, I had an intense fear of both death and the eternity after it. The fear manifested into a physical feeling in my abdomen. As I aged, that physical manifestation started to dwindle and now I can't remember the last time I felt something physically when thinking of death.
Our lesson today from "The Daily Stoic" has a great explanation for this, that I believe explains my journey through the fear of death. The authors remind us that when we are children we are ignorant of death, but we have many examples of wise men and women who can provide us guidance in regard to death.
As we mature, we have the opportunity to learn more about ourselves, others, death and life. When we experience the death of a friend or family member, we can learn to grieve with reason.
A death that was difficult for me to deal with was my paternal Grandfather. He had become a surrogate father to me. He was responsible for many of the spiritual and physical gifts in my life. He shared wisdom with me. When he passed, I can remember being upset at the funeral, because one member of the family was wailing. If there is one thing I knew, my Grandfather would have wanted others to mourn in a happier more thoughtful manner. I made a point to celebrate my Grandfathers life the way I knew he wanted. There were many of stories about his silly joke telling. How he would always laugh before he got to the punch line. How his faith shaped his life. How he found it important to work and give to others his entire life.
If you believe that death is really the end, then rejoice the thought of death. If you believe death is the start of a new chapter, then rejoice in the thought of death. Death is the elimination of all of your pains, worries and wishes. Death also holds in it the elimination of all of your fears.