Endings
A musing on death by Tim Veater.
One gets to certain age when death and its practical implications, becomes a constant back-drop to the mind.
It consists not only of the unachievable paradox of imagining a state of non-existence, of the actual transition of mental and physical close-down, but also the mechanics and practicalities of what happens after.
Who will take care of the estate, if there is one; who will sort and inherit what is left behind; how will the mortal remains be disposed of - burial or burnt; what ceremony if any should accompany the end and where should it be held; what will be the nature of the service, Christian or otherwise; in any event will anyone care to attend or will I be the only attendee; will anyone notice I have gone or miss my presence; what will be the sum total of the contribution I have made to the world or my fellow man?
I am one of those persons who is fascinated by obituaries and grave yards - "The serried ranks of grey, Flecked granite polished stone, Smooth shaped and etched in black, recording names and dates and epitaphs, Of those who didn’t make it through the night" - as I once phrased it in my poem "Resting Place".
Humans are eternally searching for 'meaning and purpose', not least in their own lives, yet we all know in the end, the meaning will disappear with the life and all that will be left is an institution, a building, an inscribed stone, a book, an account or a fading memory.
"The good men do is oft interred with their bones; the evil lives after them." That was a truism that Shakespeare put in the mouth of Mark Antony on the death of Caesar, that has gained a philosophical permanence over the subsequent five hundred or two thousand years, depending how you look on it. Perhaps it should be the motto emblazoned on ever nursery and primary school wall: do you wish to be remembered, if at all, for good or evil?
Sadly however much we may wish the former, the latter may be our fate. We may strive for goodness without much success. Perhaps the only moral obligation on man is to try to do as much good and as little harm as possible.
Of course that begs the question what is 'good' and 'bad', but for the majority it does not require years of study to decide. There is an innate morality in humans, even if it has been deadened or extinguished.
It has been said, "All political careers end in failure", but failure is not limited to them. The best we can hope for is a good life and a good death, meeting it with equanimity and composure.
The Christian belief in the eternal life of the soul may prove a solace but I have my doubts. Christ's death and resurrection was certainly a firmly held belief by his associates and followers at the time, reflecting a factual event that cannot be easily dismissed. It is being celebrated at the moment two milenia on which must say something. It inspired a whole new religion that swept the Middle East and Europe, but it did not stop people dying as they continue to do to this day.
We all live life in death's shadow - of those close to us, of well-known personalities, of ourselves. Even 'Dr Kildare' succumbs eventually as we learned this week, in his case after ninety years lived. We are daily reminded of the thousands of young lives that have been extinguished by inexcusable violence, perpetrated by evil minds, without ever having the opportunity to flower.
If souls live for ever, what an astonishing floral carpet that will be? Can you imagine the untold billions of previous lives, like a plethera of Milky Ways, swirling for ever? Life is a remarkable thing. Death is a remarkable thing too. Are they opposites or actually just a continuum of creation and decline - an eternal, never-ending cycle on which we all find ourselves, evoking an emotional response.
"Alas poor Yorick - I knew him well." Humans so easily forget they are, particularly those raised to positions of power either by birth, election or some other means. Tyrants and their evil ways have always existed. They frequently get their uppance. The mob is notoriously fickle and unforgiving. But even where they are impossible to remove, their lives still end and we hope are followed by a final judgment.
It is said that Roman Emperors were followed by a slave employed to whisper the 'Momento mori' of you "too are mortal, you too shall die". Would that the practice had not lapsed.
Three New Testament verses spring to mind:
Hebrews 9:27 "And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him"
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.
Voted favourite hymn by followers of BBC Songs of Praise, "How Great Thou Art" is also a favourite of mine. It includes some words I find particularly moving in stanza 3 and 5 that encapsulate the Christian believer's approach to death and what, perchance, lies beyond. It also resonates with me in other respects as well.
It is based upon a Swedish hymn from 1885 by Carl Boberg(1859–1940) entitled "O Store Gud" but the version we are more familiar with (below) is a paraphrase in English with changes by Stuart Wesley Keene Hine (1899 – 1989)
Hine became a Christian in 1914 when he was fifteen, was greatly influenced by the Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon, and became a Plymouth Brethren missionary to Ukraine up to the Stalin induced famine of 1932/3, when millions died. This is termed the 'Holodomor'.
Hines version of the hymn was published the year I was born (1949) and became almost the signature tune of Billy Graham's evangelistic campaigns of the 1950's, when many were converted or 'saved'. It is played here (26:30 in) by Ben Maton. Feel free to sing along and be touched emotionally too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmNACalpvlk
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