on Pain and Death
Let's face it - LIFE IS A BIT RISKY...
Everyone who has ever lived has inevitably faced risk. Risk is not merely for extreme sports enthusiasts; it's a part of life. Every moment that your blood pumps through your body, you run the risk of it failing to do so. Every time you try out for the team, you run the risk of not making the cut. Everyday of your life -and everyday of mine- you risk pain and suffering.
Though the situation seems in retrospect to be quite trivial, I vividly remember the first time I went to a chiropractor. I had been experiencing a good bit of back / neck pain, but on that day, it became unbearable. I could hardly stand up straight, so during my planning period, I ran to see the father of another teacher's student, a chiropractor. He did a bit of work and assured me that it would take several days for the discomfort to let up considerably. Though I was truly thankful that I would feel better not very long from then, I remember getting in my car and being hit squarely by the thought "All I want is for the pain to be gone - right now... at this very moment."
The more I live, the more I am convinced that life comes with its share of pain. Part of the risk of living relates to pain - physical, emotional, mental, etc.
Likewise, death is a risk we all face in life. Just as the risk of pain is inevitable, so also is the risk of death necessitated merely by our living. It's a bit discouraging to recognize the fact that we must all eventually lose our lives to death. No one wins that battle... In the end, we all lose.
* NOTE: merely some thoughts
Everyone who has ever lived has inevitably faced risk. Risk is not merely for extreme sports enthusiasts; it's a part of life. Every moment that your blood pumps through your body, you run the risk of it failing to do so. Every time you try out for the team, you run the risk of not making the cut. Everyday of your life -and everyday of mine- you risk pain and suffering.
Though the situation seems in retrospect to be quite trivial, I vividly remember the first time I went to a chiropractor. I had been experiencing a good bit of back / neck pain, but on that day, it became unbearable. I could hardly stand up straight, so during my planning period, I ran to see the father of another teacher's student, a chiropractor. He did a bit of work and assured me that it would take several days for the discomfort to let up considerably. Though I was truly thankful that I would feel better not very long from then, I remember getting in my car and being hit squarely by the thought "All I want is for the pain to be gone - right now... at this very moment."
The more I live, the more I am convinced that life comes with its share of pain. Part of the risk of living relates to pain - physical, emotional, mental, etc.
Likewise, death is a risk we all face in life. Just as the risk of pain is inevitable, so also is the risk of death necessitated merely by our living. It's a bit discouraging to recognize the fact that we must all eventually lose our lives to death. No one wins that battle... In the end, we all lose.
* NOTE: merely some thoughts
Labels: philosophy of sorts
posted by Adam Godbold | 11:29 PM
2 Comments:
I remember something Calvin said about death....There are two ways of looking at it, the wrong way and the right way. The wrong way is to long for death because we are so discouraged with ourselves and our present circumstances that we just want to die and be done with it. The right way is basically the same but with the difference that we would rather find our new home in Christ and live in Christ. This world with all of it's pain is a place we just rather not live in. Life can be very discouraging but maybe not so if we constantly think of Christ and that mansion He is building for us.
I read an article a year and a few months ago for a class I was taking (i.e., Death and Dying) that was a bit helpful. I wish I could recall the philosophers name, but nevertheless, he argued that there are two positions that are distinctly NOT the Christian approach to death:
1. that death must be endlessly fought against tooth and nail
and...
2. that death can be eagerly quickened out of defeat or desperation (i.e., suicide, euthanasia, etc.)
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