Attitudes to life and death?

[Disciplical]

I am wondering what people here think of regarding life and death.

Everyone knows the two certainties in life - death and taxes - and thinking of one's demise is enough to bring any body down. It's a topic that has bothered me greatly the past year or so. It upsets me greatly that, one day, this wonderful sequence of events we call life will draw to a close. It got so bad at one point that I had to consult a therapist. I underwent therapy sessions for obsessive compulsive disorder relating to life, death and philosophical conundrums and thanks to this, and of course some help from God, I feel I'm in a much better place, though still not "perfect."

However I would be interested in hearing how you view life, whether you are a Christian or not. Is life sacred? Or are we simply an accident? If the latter, why should we value life at all? Does death scare you?

Overtime I've slowly come to accept life for what it is: we are here and that's it! I hope and pray that God watches over us and one day we'll all be in a better place, but perhaps we do live in an empty universe devoid of any meaning or purpose. I sometimes have trouble reconciling earthly existence with belief in Christianity in that I want to see heaven for myself, yet there's no way to get there. I get confused and this in turn gets me down. What cheers me up is that we're all in it together. There's not a person who ever lived who at one point didn't meet his maker! Looking forward to your responses.

[Storyteller]

Even before I found God, I thought life was a miracle, even if it was an accident, there was a lot to be thankful for. The price of life is death, and we all have to pay it.
Now I think life is even more precious, so fleeting, so important.
God gave us this gift, this experience, this life and I am in awe.

Death is just another step closer to God.

[Nessa]

why should we value life at all? Does death scare you?

I believe we should value life simply because God has made it valuable. And yes, I'm afraid of death although, on some level,
I know there is no need to be if you are a Christian

I hope and pray that God watches over us and one day we'll all be in a better place, but perhaps we do live in an empty universe devoid of any meaning or purpose.

Are you saying you doubt God's existence?

What helped you accept life as you think it is? Things the therapist brought to your attention?

[Disciplical]

Are you saying you doubt God's existence?

What helped you accept life as you think it is? Things the therapist brought to your attention?

I don't think it's possible to say for certain God is there, much like it isn't possible to say God isn't there. So yes, to a certain extent, I doubt God's existence. My faith is exactly that - faith, in that I trust and place my faith in God to actually be there.

As for the second question, I'm not entirely sure. I've always valued life and considered it a miracle and always seen the sanctity of human life. Then sometime last year all that changed when I started questioning life and death. I couldn't understand the point of living if death is all that awaits us. I couldn't understand why people struggle living when death is inevitable anyway. I fell into some pretty dark areas as you can probably gather. These questions still weigh on my mind today, but no where near as bad as they used to. I feel that, slowly, I am regaining my appreciation for life in all its forms and that, since we only have one earthly existence, we should make the most of it. Perhaps one day we'll understand the universe that bit more to make a little more sense of life.

I discussed these issues with my family and I was quite surprised to see they don't really fear death. They just take life at face value. We live, we die. We do what we want with the bit in between. It felt like at one point that I had "broken my programming" so to speak. Should people question why they live and die? Is it healthy to do so? Now I see that yes, it is healthy to do so, but letting it ruin your life isn't healthy at all. Thankfully, I'm overcoming it.

[theophilus]

Everyone knows the two certainties in life - death and taxes -

For a Christian death isn't a certainty. There is always the possibility we will still be alive when the rapture takes place.

Because I am a Christian I am looking forward to death. I know it will be a transition to a much happier state of existence than what I experience now and I will be free of sin and of the unpleasantness of this life. (The fact that I am 74 years old may be part of the reason for this. If I remain in this life I will experience increasing health problems that will make my life even more unpleasant that it is now.)

God has given each believer work that he wants him to accomplish and I want to live long enough to do all that God wants me to do. I think my state is like that of an employee whose boss has given him a task that needs to be finished that same day. I am anxious to finish my work so I can go home.

[PaulSacramento]

Death is a part of life.