The Compassion of Unknowing Death’s Hour

Summary

The Compassion of Unknowing Death’s Hour reflects on mortality, mercy, and peace at hiveaid.org—embracing life’s mystery while finding renewal and grace.

Compassionate Mercy. Imagine how human societies would be if everyone knew the exact date, moment, and circumstance of their death. It goes without saying that the world would be in a more chaotic state. This chaos would be greater than it is now if everyone had this advance knowledge about themselves. Different personalities would handle the knowledge of the exact timeline and circumstance of their death in different ways.

Some people will make peace with knowing that on this date, and at this moment, and in this way, they will be dead. Other people will lose their minds because of this advance knowledge. While others will go on a crime and murder spree as the sounding of their death bell approaches.

No one would be safe on earth. If each person knew the precise moment and circumstance of their departure, safety would not exist. On the other hand, everyone on earth would be safe by knowing the exact time and circumstance of their death. They would know they are safe during their allotted time on earth. They can do whatever they please without fearing an untimely demise.

Human history shows that humans have never placed a great deal of value on human life. Now, imagine how valueless human life would be. Suppose each man and woman on earth knew the precise date, moment, and circumstance of their death.

Of course, there are many instances where a person knows the exact date, moment, and circumstance of their death. They have dealt with this knowledge as their personality and temperament allow. If every man, woman, and child knew that today is their last day alive, it would change how people think. This realization introduces a new dynamic. It affects how they conduct themselves on a civil and social level.

Likewise, they feel the seconds of being alive tick away. They know that tonight they are going to swing high or low sweet chariot. Some individuals contemplate suicide when they learn they have only a month to live. Others wonder if they can endure just a week, a day, or even an hour left to live. They do this hoping to make a mockery of their time sheet.

No one will succeed in a suicide unless it is destined to be their cause of death. Those who are not meant to die by suicide will be engaging in a useless effort. That is not the way their death has been determined to occur.

Hope and faith will not disappear under these conditions. People will hope that they are the select few with significant brownie points accumulated with the angel of death. They may delude themselves with a belief that they are chosen. Such people think they are set apart. They believe this separation happens at a precise date, moment, and circumstance like everyone else.

Fortunately, mercy prevails in that the norm is that a person does not know the exact date. They are spared the moment and circumstance when the angel of death will pay them a surprise visit. Human beings are conceived in death and are allotted a puff of life before returning to their native state.

The joke of life is on the living, not for the dead. The dead are not conscious of anything. They are not even aware of the worms consuming them and turning what was something into nothing.

It is natural for a person to be afraid of death because the unknown is mysterious and frightening. Religions of all persuasions seek to comfort the natural fear of death. They promise hope and faith. These, though, offer no salvation from the permanent lights out. This will happen at a specific date, a fixed time, and under definite circumstances.

How considerate it is that mortals are spared knowledge of their final moments. This will be the last time we comb or brush our hair while looking in the mirror. In just minutes, our lifeless body will be taken away for someone else to comb and brush our hair.

The birds are still chirping and the squirrels are still gathering nuts in May. The planet Earth is still revolving around the Sun. The Earth’s sister planet, the Moon, is still making its circuit around it. Everything is going quite well within the heavens and the cosmos is still full of lights. But your lights and my lights are out like a light. They will never flicker again. That is just the way of it.

It is merciful that the exact date of our death is universally kept hidden from us. The moment and circumstance of our demise are also concealed. These are flickering moments between deaths. No one rests in peace because a sense of peace is predicated on feelings, senses, and emotions. These can’t be experienced if a person is as dead as a dumbbell.

The sound of ocean waves breaking along the shore is haunting and lonely at night. It gives you a sense of how fleeting and fragile life is. Today and tonight are the end of the world for someone. Tomorrow, the ocean waves will still be breaking along the shore. The kindest thing given to all human beings is that they do not have an exact countdown of their future. This absence prevents lawlessness. It ensures that creativity is not stifled.

So, what is the point of this article? The point of this article is that a small fish is swimming along and with a zap, a larger fish eats it. The point of this article is that a construction worker has twenty minutes left on a Friday. He is contemplating how the weekend will be spent. He is then crushed by a cherry picker. This happened to me on a Friday, but I survived the crunch.

The point of this article is that a person goes to bed filled with worries about the next day. When morning comes, that person is no longer among the living. The point of this article is that the very next second is a mystery. The second before is now history. Between those two intervals is where life exists.