Are We Afraid to Die?

In one of my English classes, a student started a 60-second talk with these words:

"We are all going to have to die some day. But, we are afraid to die..."

My first thought was, "I'm not." Then I thought,

"Maybe people would think that's strange, but why should I be afraid to die? If I were afraid to die, wouldn't that mean that I didn't really believe that the best part of life is on the other side of the veil? Wouldn't it mean that I don't really believe that Jesus Christ suffered unimaginable agony in order to pay for my eternal life? My eternal bliss?"

Ok, there may be some trepidation for a fleeting moment whenever I think about death. I think that's mainly because I don't want to cause my loved ones sorrow. But, then I realize very quickly that every single one of us must die and, as well, every single one of us must lose loved ones to death.

When my student had finished his brief talk, I said,
"You know, it is a strange thing that we all know that we are going to die. We all know that we can't live forever. But, when someone close to us dies, our brains just freak out!"

"Yes!" one of the girls agreed, "Our minds can't accept it!"

Why is that? It crossed my mind that, if nobody ever told us as children that we would die some day, would we ever know that this body we live in is temporary? (Personally, I can't remember how or when I learned it.)

Yes, folks, this body we occupy will need to be vacated some day. It's true. Nobody likes the truth, but that is one of them. Most people would be offended if you walked up to them and said,

"You do realize that you are going to die, don't you?"

Nobody likes to talk about death. It's like there's a sign on Death's Door that says, "Quiet, Keep Out!" or "Danger!"

But, death is a blessing. It's a huge, huge blessing! Death is the final climax! It's our graduation! It's a release! We get out of the prison of this earthbound piece of clay and we can travel at the speed of thought to worlds yet to be discovered!

Death is the cherry on top! It's the Light at the end of the proverbial tunnel! It's glorious! It's the Answer!

Ha! That's when you get ALL the answers back on ALL the exams of life! The Great Teacher hands back your paper and says,

"Well done! Come on in and join the party! Let Me teach you how to REALLY party!"