Death
I am always tempted to start any essay on death with that quote from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", and so I shall. In it, Albus Dumbledore tells a confused Harry that "to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." Certainly, it would be easy to define death as the end of everything, but clearly that way of thought could not be further from the truth. Even if one does not subscribe to any particular faith or religion, it would be shallow to describe death as such. As Dumbledore says later in the same chapter, and I paraphrase, the dead never really leave us.
We all fear the unknown, whether we would admit as much is something else. Death, in particular, frightens us. The impact of the idea itself sends shivers down our spines because death is something we cannot totally know anything about. Also, we fear death as it takes away from us who we truly love in this world. However if we were to think about it deeply enough, we would learn to be less terrified of physical passing and begin to appreciate death, morbid as it may sound to some of us. It is not so difficult to understand actually, on three counts – death gives meaning to a life often lacking in it; death is a relief from a world that is, well, worldly; death gives hope.
From the moment we have life within us, we are all headed towards the eventuality of death. With the many uncertainties in life, death is the one certainty, except that we have no idea when it is coming. It gives our lives meaning because despite any physical, monetary or intellectual divide, we know that there is one end for all. Death is the great leveler, something which St. Francis of Assisi understood when he praised God for blessing us with death, whom he called “sister”. If we were to suffer from immortality, and believe you me, it is a burden being able to live for ever, life would have no meaning simply because everything we do would have no value for we could easily replicate it endlessly. We could consider life like a football match, the match is only exciting, and the match is only meaningful because we know that it will end after ninety minutes. Sometimes a commentator might pass a remark that with quality this high you might wish a match would never end, but we know too that if that were to happen, nothing in the match would have any meaning, every goal and every tackle would be redundant.
Death is what makes us fully human, death is what gives a complete and total grasp of our humanity. Some of the most beautiful music falls under the category of requiem, or funeral songs. This is most probably due to the fact that death to one of our loved ones tugs at our heartstrings more than anything else. The feeling of loss is one that is a basic human emotion, it helps us truly treasure what we have in the here and now. Death, ultimately, is a celebration of life. In April this year, the death of Pope John Paul II caused much grief among Catholics and non-Catholics around the world. His funeral, viewed worldwide, was clearly not mourning, but a celebration, a celebration of the incredible life of John Paul the Great. If he had lived forever, there would have been nothing to celebrate. This applies too to our own families and our own lives. Attending the funeral of a parent allows us the time to reflect and celebrate the life of the dead parent, something that most probably we would otherwise never have had done. Death gives meaning to life, because the death of others remind us all of our own mortality. It is oft said that some men live as though they will never die and die as though they have never lived. If indeed we were in full awareness of the fact that one day we shall all die, the above statement will not apply to us. Death gives meaning this way, it makes every footstep something to be valued, for we never do know if we will have the opportunity to take another one.
One of the most poignant ways one can die is by causing death onto oneself – suicide. When someone commits suicide he succumbs to despair and is still a somewhat taboo subject in our society. Most religions too label suicide an unforgivable sin. However, let us look into the minds and hearts of those who commit suicide. Despair is an emotion that strips the human soul of any hope and forces one to employ a permanent solution for a temporary problem. On the other side of the coin, a man ailed with much suffering and disease looks forward to death because he knows that death will bring him deliverance from his suffering. Herein lies another reason why we should admire death, for it gives us eternal rest, with an emphasis on the word “rest”, if we approach it with the correct frame of mind. The Negro slaves often sang about how their glory was in death and how a chariot would come to take them away to a place where there would be no suffering. In death, we are forever free of the troubles and the turmoil of this world.
This ties in with how death, strange as it may seem, brings us great hope. In all religions, some form of life after death is promised to its believers. I once again quote St. Francis of Assisi, who seemed to understand more about death than most people, he said that it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. This is a central theme of the Christian gospel, that unless we die, we can never live. Unless we die to the pleasures of the world, we can never live in the fullness of peace and happiness, which God alone can give. In the religions that believe in reincarnation, the theory is that one should accumulate as much good merit as possible so as to one day be able to leave the cycle of reincarnation, and the pain that comes with it. The martyrs of the various faiths often died with eyes cast to heaven and smiles on their faces. Death here brings hope, hope in the glorious afterlife. We look forward to death, not because we love life any less, but because we have nothing to fear in death. As long as we have lived positive lives full of love for life and for others, we need not fear what comes after death, for if there is a God, He is just and so will give us what we truly deserve, from the bottom of our hearts.
Death takes away what we love. Death seems to destroy what we have in this life. Yet death also gives, she gives us an understanding of what life really is. Every breath, every move becomes doubly important if the vision of death remains transfixed perpetually in our vision.
mark nicodemus at 7:42 pm
Crisis
At the heart of the various episodes of human life lies the issue of crises. At one point or another, every single human person, by virtue of his humanity, will have to encounter a crisis of sorts. This need not necessarily be a major catastrophe or a life or death scenario; we all experience our own crises in many varying degrees. Crisis may apply at a macro level, with regards to a national or international moment of reckoning; it may also be applicable at a solely individual level – a personal struggle or a private time of distress. Perhaps some would say that some find themselves in situations that are unsolvable and fall into despair and therein lies the potential of a crisis in destroying our lives and everything we have. I disagree however. Situations occur as a test of our human capacity in crisis management. Situations bring out the best and worst in people, depending on our ability to counter a period of great stress.
Human beings are a strange species of animals, to say the least. Often we require crises to bring out the best in us; otherwise we would stay in a state of relative apathy. That is what crises may serve as – a spur. Without tests, trials or tribulations, the strength of the human character cannot possibly be tested to the maximum, very much like gold that has to be tested through fire. Consider how a person who has overcome many small obstacles in life may well be very much stronger than one who has lived a life free of any difficulty. Trials are thus vital to the human existence. Darwinism is based on the notion that only the fittest survive. At a human level, only when survive our various crises can we progress as human beings, character and spiritually wise. When the Twin Towers were falling on Terrible Tuesday, beneath the rubble of death and destruction, great stories of heroism also emerged. Well this applies to all major tragedies. After earthquakes, hurricanes or tsunamis, aid from all over the world is quick to pour into the victimized countries. People react to tragedy not with their minds, but with their hearts. It is with this instinct that may enable me to claim that if it were not for crises, the depth of the human spirit and the goodness of the heart may well be hidden always. Crises, and the suffering it entails, are like bitter medicine pills, we are often forced into a situation that we would much rather avoid; however when forced to consume it, we are better of for it.
Unfortunately though, the result of a crisis is often the falling of the victim into despair. The emotion of despair is the worst possible human condition, more than any physical trauma because it means that the person has lost what is fundamental to humans – hope. As I said earlier, crises may bring out the best in people; it may tragically also bring out the worst. There are two sides to everything and with human nature it is no different. For every positive, heroic response, there is bound to be one of human selfishness, the inability to think lucidly and help those who need help just as much if not more than you. Just imagine how every time necessity goods like rice fall into shortage, all sacks remaining on sale are immediately snapped up for fear there would be none for personal consumption. Evidence for the negativity emerging in tragedy can be seen in the scenes of anarchy at New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina or in the looting of Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Basically, when the going gets tough, there is a chance that the evil in man comes to the fore. At a personal level, the falling to despair and depression is a real and distinct possibility, myself having seen many of such cases. When bad things happen to us, we question everything, the purpose of life, the justice of it all and even their faith in God. This happens precisely because we cannot handle the shocks or blows dealt to us.
Yet, as much as we go to great lengths to avoid running into any serious trouble, human beings need crises. Basically, we need bad things to happen to us. Without them, we would have no meaning in life for life cannot possibly be just the good stuff. History is made up of crises and the human ability to deal with it, or not. One simply cannot imagine whether Sir Winston Churchill might have been as well known as he is if not for the crisis of World War 2. Without, crises, countries would have no history, would have no culture and would have no heritage. The history of man is basically a history of struggle, and there would be no struggle if there were no crisis. American patriotism, for example, stems very much from the way they claimed their country for their own in 1776 from the British. Polish pride, to name another, comes in turn from the way Solidarity stood up to the Soviets and the morally bankrupt ideology of communism. Simply put, mankind cannot do without crises; we would have no meaning then. At a personal level, our struggles make us stronger and more able to deal with the more pertinent issues in life, taking for granted the fact that we do indeed overcome it.
There is no crisis too great for us to handle, if we but look at things from a wider perspective, we find that all these are just part and parcel of life. What is vital is for us to never lose faith and hope, for when we sink into despair, we miss out on the growing that trials bring.
mark nicodemus at 12:10 am
Beauty
Too often, we measure beauty in physical terms. Beauty in our world has become a much misunderstood quality and as an unfortunate result, is degenerated to something merely physical. Too often, we delude ourselves into believing we truly appreciate something that is beautiful and in our limited human capacity limit and trivialize the concept of beauty. Beauty, however, extends beyond the tangible realm and is not dependant on the exterior. Rather, it is a quality that radiates from within and thereafter applies itself to the exterior. The most attractive supermodel may not, therefore, be half as beautiful as a deformed human.
We might perhaps choose to structure an argument on this topic in such a way that we attempt to define what beauty is. However, I am of the opinion that if we were to do so we would never get any result. To the contrary, I believe beauty is best understood by looking at what it is not. In any event, beauty is not something that the human mind can ever really grasp. Beauty may also be discovered in art and music, and as anyone involved in these two fields might know, it cannot be described. Some time ago, I had the opportunity of studying a poem which portrayed beauty as something unattainable and that the artist merely gets closer to it but at the same time it moves further apart. In even attempting to grapple with this concept, we must first accept this, that beauty is not something that can be written down in words. One definition of beauty that I encountered was one that claimed beauty was something that enticed the senses. This is simplistic and falls guilty of trivializing it. Beauty does not merely appeal to what the body can physically feel, but also to what the soul feels. How inadequate a definition may seem no matter which dictionary we may choose to consult. Let us examine the existence of beauty in art or music. Upon hearing a beautiful composition, say my personal favourite, Morten Lauridsen’s "O Magnum Mysterium", the most we can say, indeed the highest praise that we can give, is that we are at a loss for words. That is one of the things beauty is not, it is not describable. To say that it is indescribable is also inaccurate, you see, for we are able to put some sort of definition of it, however whatever we might choose to say, we would find our language hopelessly inadequate. In my copy of a thesaurus substitutes I found were terms such as charm, attraction or radiance. Beauty encompasses all of these and to use one on its own exposes a lack of the complete picture.
Having shown that beauty is something indescribable, let us now examine the effect of beauty is not. Or rather, what effect it does not have on us. I have already mentioned that beauty is often misunderstood. This can be attributed to the fact that the world holds values that are, for lack of a better word, worldly. Evidenced in the unceasing research into everything there is to research, we see that human beings have a tendency to want to understand everything. As a result, with regards to beauty, we confuse it with other adjectives. Therein lies what beauty is also not - it is not something worldly. Beauty is not of our flawed world. Very often we use such phrases as "life is beautiful", "my girlfriend is beautiful" without realizing what we mean. Physical attractiveness does not equal beauty. While it would fit in with the definition that it appeals to the senses, it does not show beauty. An attractive person may be beautiful, but so may someone not so attractive. Beauty radiates from within and the exterior merely mirrors what is inside. Beauty is too often confused with prettiness or sexiness. That it is not. I personally consider Mother Teresa of Calcutta one of the most beautiful women who I have ever seen. She does not fit into classical standards of physical attractiveness yet there is more beauty in a wrinkle on her face than there is in my entire being and this has nothing to do with looks. Where then does this beauty come from? Surely not of any worldly qualities. It comes from the peace and love that radiates from inside of her, something that the things of this world do not seem to be able to offer. She is not sexy or pretty, yet she is beautiful. Hard to put in words.
Since beauty is neither describable nor worldly, it leads us to another quality that beauty is not. Beauty does not excite. It is with this in mind that I can claim the earlier mentioned definition is wrong. Enticing the senses would generate excitement yet beauty does not incite this. Consider the example of beauty in and of nature. Countless men and women over the course of time have discovered the beauty present in nature, myself included. I believe that no one can convincingly dispute the beauty of a rainbow, one of the most amazing sights any day of the year. Yet the watching of a waterfall does not cause excitement in us, instead, it gives us serenity. Such as the effect of experiencing beauty. This supports my earlier two paragraphs, try as we may, we cannot really describe why a sunset is beautiful nor can we explain the effect it has on us. An encounter with true beauty does not engage the senses, rather it touches the soul, something that cannot be felt or experienced physically; an encounter with beauty is a spiritual experience. When something excites us, causes our hearts to pump faster, we lose that spiritual stillness and this runs contrary to the peace which experiences of beauty give us. A pornographic film arouses sexual excitement in some and anyone with a conscience sould not classify such grotesque misuse of the sexual faculty as beautiful. Violent movies may also stir excitement in us, yet bloodshed is hardly beautiful. A hard rock concert may leave the audience in raptures, however a song performed beautifully enjoys a moment of complete silence after it is concluded. Herein we can see the effect beauty has; it is not a feast for the physical senses but rather a vitamin for the senses of the human soul.
We do know something that beauty definitely is though. It is hidden. It is hidden not so much because it intentionally conceals itself from our prying human eyes. However, it is hidden because we do not see with the eyes of our hearts. Doomsday prophets and skeptics often search for the worst in this our world. We choose to see the negatives in everything; more accurately, we are too willing to see the negatives for there is much beauty in the world that we overlook. As children we may choose to see the dire situation of our family’s poverty for example and overlook the simple beauty of a father’s love when he works to the bone to provide you with any pleasure he can offer. As global citizens we often lament rising child prostitution without seeing the beauty of those who work tirelessly against it. In short, there is beauty everywhere and especially in the worst of human conditions. After all, a candle is brighter in darkness than at noontime. Beauty stands out all the more in human suffering and the like. It is all around; if we but look.
Above all, beauty is something that man will never be able to fully comprehend. We will never understand why we think the object of our affections more beautiful than anyone else, we will never understand what makes a tune beautiful and we may never understand what makes a sunset beautiful. How often have you heard someone call life beautiful? Yet why it is indeed so is beyond our human understanding. Perhaps it is precisely due to the lack of understanding that constitutes its beauty. We can at least comfort ourselves with the knowledge that we have the ability to make our lives more beautiful, we know to a most limited degree the formula for beauty. Well, maybe it is not that difficult after all, after all, at the centre of beauty is the human heart. If one day we feel less with our bodies and more with our hearts, we just may begin to see beauty in places we never previously did.
mark nicodemus at 8:43 pm