Death

Death. The word smacks of finality. An end to our existence, at least in the mortal world. Books have been written about it. Poems have been written about it. Films have been made about it. But what exactly is it? We can only really speak about it from this side of the grave as nobody has ever come back from the other side to tell us what it was like. Okay, I know plenty of people will feel their hackles rising at this point but I’ll get to all that later.

There are many definitions of death depending where you’re coming from. Medically, it used to be when the heart stopped beating, but today people can be sustained on life support systems and actually recover. However, it is probably when brain activity ceases. From that point on the body becomes paler, the blood settles in the lower portions, the temperature drops, the limbs become stiff and eventually decomposition begins. At this point the body is placed in a coffin and buried or cremated.

All neatly done and dusted and everyone can go home, bringing with them their fond and maybe not so fond memories. Somebody said if the Irish had half the respect for the living as they do for the dead, this would be a great place to live. Well, I agree with that and is one reason why if I didn’t like somebody when they were alive, their death ain’t going to change my opinion of them.

Why do some people fear death so much? Personally I don’t fear death at all, but having said that if I were put up against a wall right this minute with a gun pointed at my head, I’d be quakin’ in my shoes. And who knows, if I ever get to lie on my death bed in the full knowledge that I’m about to quit this mortal coil, I’ll probably be pretty scared too. But at this point in time the only qualms I have are about suffering. Nobody wants to suffer. After all death is a part of life, albeit the final bit. I have no fear of the afterlife (if there is one) either. Being an agnostic, if it turns out that God meets me, I’ve no doubt (due to my belief in science and reason) that such a being is benign and would quite agree with me that it was the mind and reasoning powers He provided me with which led me to my agnosticism.

Another reason I might fear death is the awful possibility of premature burial. Now, that is really scary. Image waking up and finding yourself in a coffin from which there is no escape. Or worse still, waking up as the coffin is about to enter the furnace if you’re being cremated. However, I believe that medical science is sufficiently advanced these days that this doesn’t happen anymore. At least I sure hope so. I remember a woman waking up in the morgue in Dublin in the 1960s. The attendant got as big a fright as she did.

Some fear death because, not believing in anything, just don’t want to leave this world. They don’t want to die into nothing and therefore “rage, rage against the dying of the light”, as Dylan Thomas’ poem expresses so well. But if there is nothing there, they are not going to know. They’ll be dead! And it’s hard to imagine that anybody is so certain that there is nothing after death that it should scare them so. But I guess there are all sorts of folks in the world.

Some fear death, because they haven’t exactly lived a good life and they realise that finally they might meet with some justice. Well, I don’t think they should worry too much as I doubt God is waiting with a big grin on his face to grab their souls and haul them off to Hell. As I don’t believe in the devil, there’s no point even discussing such a nonsense concept. I could be wrong, and at the end of the day if God does exist and allows the existence of such a monster as Satan, then even the good need to be terrified.

Maybe others fear death because it is so unknown. And that’s probably the biggest fear of mankind: the unknown. What’s out there and what can it do to us? But surely, death must be the most exciting adventure any of us can undertake? This is the one time we really are all alone as we step over the threshold. What’s there? If there’s nothing, we’re not going to know. A bit of a letdown really. But how about if there is an afterlife, I mean what kind of trip would that be? Let’s think about it.

If it is like most people in the Western World have been told, then we get to come face to face with God. This incredible powerful being, who not only made the whole universe (just think about that!) but also each one of us. That’s a mighty potent piece of engineering. Then we get to spend eternity doing, I’m sure, very interesting things. I doubt we’ll all be bored out of our minds sitting around on clouds singing songs of praise all day. And I’m pretty sure we don’t have to consider going through a spell in Purgatory. That was something dreamed up by the Church in the 12th century as they couldn’t conceive that anybody might be pure enough to enter Heaven immediately after death and we all had to spend some time getting purged first. And Hell? All I can say if there is such a place, then God is a tyrant after all and we’re all screwed. Which leads to the interesting question as where evil people go. This is a topic in it’s own right and all I can say is with Mahatma Gandhi “love the sinner, hate the sin”. Not an easy thing to do at all and probably something quite impossible to do by anybody but a very, very forgiving person. “Forgive your enemies,” said Christ. Easier said than done. So having said that, I leave this topic to another day.

In my opinion, if there is an afterlife, I would think it unlikely that we are brought full blown into it. I would assume that we enter a spiritual sphere and live a life there, no longer physical but spiritual. And once again we die in that life and move on to an even higher mode of existence. I don’t know for how long this might continue or how many higher levels of existence there might be. Maybe infinite. This might be one answer as to what evil people might face as in this spiritual dimension they would have to face their own evil. But this is getting too speculative.

I also find it strange the number of people who don’t want to discuss death. They think it is morbid or ghoulish. Personally I find it fascinating and like it or not, we are all going to face it one day. And not only that, we’re going to be alone when we do so. Oh, you can say there will be people with you at the end gathered around your death bed. If we go like that, then notwithstanding the fact that there may be people around you, you still go into that good night alone. Nobody else in that room is going to volunteer to come with you. I remember my father on his death bed. According to my mother afterwards he knew he was dying but didn’t want to talk about it. Okay, I accept his right not to speak about it, but I thought it was a great pity. I hope I’m not afraid to speak about it if I find myself in such a situation or the doctor has given me so long to live. It would be a shock, but you get over shocks and hopefully come to terms with it.

Above I said that nobody has ever come back from death to tell us about it. Many people will have something to say about that. I’ll try to give my point of view in what follows.

Of course, the main objection I suppose is religious. We have been brought up to believe in God and if we live a good life here on Earth, we will gain our reward in Heaven. But who told us this? It started with our parents and then our teachers. We were children. We knew no better. We believed everything our parents and teachers told us. We were bombarded with information about God, and how He looked after us, even supplying a personal guardian angel to guide us through our lives. Less emphasis was put on the demon who also accompanied us through our lives tempting us to commit sin. Sin, that awful word, which was bound up (at least in our earliest years) with some mysterious and dreadful deeds more awful than lying or murder. We would be somewhat older before it was equated with sex!

And if we did lead a good life, of course we went to heaven when we died. If the Christian Brothers were to be believed, there were many cases when the souls of the faithful departed did in fact come back to regale us with stories of the afterlife, usually with dire warning to avoid bad companions in this life or face the prospect of an eternity in hell. But these were only stories. Nobody came back to visit me, which doesn’t mean it didn’t happen to others. But I have never come across a definite case where it has happened. Oh, people have told me about their ghost stories and so forth, but when I begin to question them more closely, I can quickly see that is all it is, stories. And if I ask where exactly is the particular house which is definitely haunted and where I’m guaranteed to see a ghost, the answer becomes vague or I’m told the house has been sold and besides don’t I ever take anybody’s word for it. Quite frankly, no, I don’t.

What about séances? Can’t we communicate with the dead? Don’t mediums work? Oh, you’ll get a lot of charlatans playing at this game. But I believe mediums and such have been exposed so many times, it is amazing, at least to me, why anybody in their right mind still believe the garbage that they say. The American magician, James Randi, among many others have shown how mediums conduct their business many times. It is called cold reading. This is a technique easily learned. Next time you attend a session where the medium says they are contacting the dead, or even see it on television, pay close attention. Typically with an audience they might start by saying something like “I’m hearing from somebody called James, does anybody know a James?” Well the chances are that in any reasonably sized audience somebody will have a relative who has died called James, or Jimmy, or Jim. They never say they are being contacted by somebody called Zacharias, for example. “Now this James”, the medium will continue, “died from some illness.” Oh yes, big deal. What else did they die from? Laughter? “I’m getting the word cancer,” they’ll say. And so they’ll continue and when they have narrowed down one gullible in the audience they’ll concentrate on them. “James is telling me to tell you he is happy and not to worry about the money.” Maybe at this point the person whose relative is speaking to them from the other side (the other side of what, I ask cynically) says they don’t know what James is talking about. Watch closely how the medium quickly says something to cover up, like “No, it’s not money. Not in that sense. Did he leave a house?” And most likely they are back on track again. Yes, there was a house. And this goes on till the unfortunate person from the audience is in tears really believing that this shyster is really talking to their relative James. Shame on them. They always get things wrong, but quickly change the subject. What don’t people notice this?

And then again I’ve spoken to people who have visited a fortune teller and they will tell me how many things they got right. But I like to ask them how many things they got wrong. People only remember what they want. It’s human nature, I suppose. The chances are that I can tell somebody I never met before ten things about themselves, and I’m bound to get at least two or three correct. Professional charlatans (or indeed illusionists who tell you they are using trickery and not supernatural talent) have honed their craft well and using a lot of other tricks, like body language etc. will get a lot more things correct.

The great Houdini spent many years going to séance after séance in the hope of being able to contact his deceased mother. After a short while he realised the futility of such an enterprise and turned his talents to exposing these mediums. He exposed every medium he ever examined. He even offered a cash prize to any medium who could show that contact with the afterlife was possible. Nobody ever collected the prize.

Even today, the illusionist James Randi has similarly offered a cash prize which nobody has been able to collect. He has exposed all who tried.

Another proof of life after death offered by some is the Near Death Experience or as the yanks like to say, NDE. I’m sure you are familiar with the scenarios, one of which describes a person who dies on an operating table. Their heart stops and they find themselves floating above the operating room and being able to see their body surrounded by doctors, nurses and medical machines. They see the team frantically trying to resuscitate their heart and seeming to fail. In the meantime they float on up through the operating room ceiling and become aware of a long tunnel at the end of which there is a very bright light. There are various descriptions of this light, but those who experience it feel more strongly than anything they have ever felt before, that they have to get to that light. It is drawing them to itself and they experience a wonderful sense of peace and happiness. Suddenly as they are about to reach it, they are drawn back and find themselves back in their body, the surgical team having successfully revived them. And in many cases this experience changes their lives, they feel closer to nature and God and often end up living a better life, free of mundane care.

However, as with everything else, there are a number of proposed explanations for this phenomenon, including recollection of the birth experience, effects of drugs or medicines, oxygen starvation, a flood of endorphins (a type of morphine) released by the dying brain, and hallucinations among others. Scientific investigation into NDEs has shown that oxygen starvation for example can produce very similar sensations. And the experience does appear to be the same across different cultures implying a common cause (human brain?). However it seems to me that it is not necessary to postulate an afterlife as an explanation when the answer could well lie in physiological or biological mechanisms.

And of course the biggest proof if you like of an afterlife is in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So if you believe in Jesus and Christianity, you believe in an afterlife. However, it is no proof that an afterlife exists. It is a matter for faith alone and I can’t quibble with that.

But do we always have to demand evidence? Why not just accept it on faith? Many people do so and if that’s what they have decided then who am I to argue. I’m sure they have good reasons, maybe even had a theophany. However, I simply cannot do that. My logical, scientific, rational mind cries out against it. And I have never had a vision or an encounter with a supernatural being (you might like to check out my article below on Ghosts). I have, along with many others, no reason to accept what others say about such an important topic. Surely, if God exists, He knows how I feel and think and would do something about it. I’m not looking for lightning bolts from heaven but maybe a nod in the right direction. I have often gone into a church at times when nobody else is there as I find them places of quiet, peace and solitude. There is an atmosphere which I have not found elsewhere. I sit quietly near the altar and observe my surroundings. Statues and pictures depicting scenes from the bible or representations of Christ or his mother and other saints. A hush hangs in the air imbued with a scent of incense. You can almost hear the silence. A faint sense of mystery beckons. I look at the various pictures and wonder which bible story they are relating. Sometimes I know, other times I don’t. Then I try and blank my mind. I succeed for a very short time and in that moment try to let God in. But then thoughts come crashing through as if abhorring a vacuum. I become aware of my surroundings again. The quiet sounds of a church. And then intrusions of other sounds, a car in the distance, a gentle snap as the building settles, a door opening somewhere. And then the silence falls heavy again. Nothing stirs and I get up and leave.

I guess in this life there is no way we’re going to find out anything about the next one. We’re just going to have to go there and see. And I, for one, am in no hurry.