What is the meaning of death? I wasn't really sure until a couple of days ago. I have no lost both of my grandparents from my dad's side and it never hit me what that really meant. I have always thought when people die their souls move on to whatever after life exists, and that the only things that one has left of that person are the memories. Talking about Hegel in class helped me realize that the memories we keep of loved ones that have passed away means that they still exist. Their thought still exists and we can sometimes mirror ourselves in their thought. For example, if there was a saying that that person always said and one can connect to it one is mirroring him or her into that person.
I hadn't seen my grandparents in almost eleven years, and it hurt so much to know that I will never get the chance to develop a better relationship with them. All that remains on of them are pictures and memories, even as weird as it sounds mean that they are still alive. The fact that they are on my mind 24/7 now mean that they are still alive in a spiritual sense. My grandfather wasn't ready to die, but I think in the end he welcomed it because it meant he would be rejoined with my grandmother. It has greatly affected my father, of course, but I think that part of trying to move on is for family and friends to also accept death and what it means. Death is meant to be peaceful and it's supposed to mean that your soul will move on to be in God's kingdom. But how do you accept the death of a father, grandfather and brother, which is what he was? When I found out my grandfather had died the first thing I thought was "why?" Why did he have to leave and not give us the chance to see him for the last time? It's hard accepting death when one feels that it came to early. I don't think I'll be able to accept the idea of death for a long time, because I think of my parents and how I would find someone or something to blame if anything ever happened to them. I know death is a natural process of life, but what does that really mean?
Nataly,
ReplyDeleteI thought this commentary was very honest and so true! I know how you feel; fortunately, I haven't lost any of my grandparents yet, but will share with you this one instance when the mother of my best friend suddenly died. It seemed so unreal and so unnatural, and also added an element of fear because of how scared I already was of dying. But I like how you frame it as a "natural" process. Even though we may not "get" as much time as we'd like to with the people that we love, I believe that the remedy for this is to simply live in the present, enjoy the moment, for worrying about the past or future is simply a waste of the time you have now to enjoy life. That's not to say that death is in any way easy to cope with, because it certainly is- in many ways, I think a lot is learned from this process, and that we should begin to enjoy the company of others now because how fragile life can be sometimes.