The Great Baton Change! Our Death

Imagine that at the end of your life there is a baton change like in an athletics relay race. During this relay race that is your life, as you thrust the baton into a hand you barely have time to see, you have only a matter of two seconds to yell to this next ‘runner’ in life a key and critical message to help them on their journey. It’s got to be something you’ve learned during your time living in this world. Something really significant. What would that message be I wonder?

I’ve thought about this, and instantly upon my reflection I came up with the following to blurt out: “There are traps like land mines everywhere, so look out!”

I guess I’d say that because I’ve seen so many stumble and fall, including myself. It’s my own personal experience of life from what I’ve seen. Whether it be temptation, chosen ignorance, lack of awareness, conflict or other, life’s quite difficult to negotiate a lot of the time. We learn both the hard way and the easy way, but the sting of the hard way is felt resoundingly and it lasts doesn’t it?

Yet, given this negative, cautionary charge, how would the person receiving the baton and this imperative resist living a life caked in fear? If that was the only message they’d receive it might leave them a little joyless.

In giving this a little more thought, the positive imperative might be: “Grab every opportunity you can to do good, making the most of your time.”

We have precious little time from an end-of-life viewpoint. Life seems so fundamentally short. A lot of older people nearing death have told us so. Did they do all they wanted to do? Did they reach or achieve at least some of their dreams and goals?

We’re intrigued as to what it might feel like... to be in the experience of our imminent deaths. Even the morbidly fearful will occasionally wonder. Death is mystery as we consciously move into unconsciousness, falling asleep if not suddenly.

Our time will come. Our time on earth, living our life, will end at some point. It bodes us well to think occasionally of our death, what that might look like, and what might the experience hold for us.

What could be waiting on the other side?

Could it be that the way we live impacts the way we live hereafter?

Copyright © 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.