Have you Made Peace with Self About Death?

This past week has had one very unfortunate event that we have been following with a myriad of mixed emotions and wonder. The submersible that went to explore the Titanic wreck imploded resulting in the loss of lives of five people on board. What a tragic end.

Many questions have been raised about the decision by the five to go on such a dangerous deep-sea tour yet like many other undertakings, theirs too became more or less an accident. Much as many may allude to the fact that they knew something like that could happen some day, the sojourners all likely expected a successful tour.

In my mind though, the biggest question amidst this sad ending has been whether those folks had made peace with themselves about death. Making peace here means that as they undertook the dive that Sunday morning, they had the understanding that that would or would not be their last day on Earth.

It is important for us to always remember that we are on this planet for just a period. We bloom like flowers in the morning and wither away like the same flowers at noon under the scorching sun. Unfortunately, unlike the flowers, we never know when our scorching comes and the source of the scorching.

We know that we shall die someday, yet the greatest mystery of all time for the man who has made tremendous progress in technological advancement is that we can never tell when, where or how we will die. And more and more it seems there is a time clock with death.

Sometimes it may look like we can ‘postpone’ death, but we can never evade it. The best thing to do then is to be prepared for death all the time by being at peace with self. Ensuring that every moment lived is worth living, and enjoying it fully goes a long way in preparing us.

Speaking of preparing should not be confused with literal planning as one who is going on a journey and needs suitcases of clothes and gadgets. On the contrary, this is a very long journey of no return, but one taken without any luggage. Planning is usually done regarding what legacy we leave behind and the part we play while we live.

Every time you drive or board a train, ship or aeroplane, remember even if it may have the highest safety rating, anything can go wrong. Not just that, you may be doing your thing and something completely unrelated happens and takes your life just like that. Yours now is to ensure you have that knowledge at the back of your mind always.

What such a realization does is not make you paranoid to go looking for where death might come from and take you with it, instead, it makes you focus on the important stuff and do your best to make the best of your time on earth.

In the Bible, there is a verse in 2 Samuel 3:33 which says, “And the king sang a lament over Abner and said: “Should Abner die as a fool dies? (NKJV)” Here David laments over Abner whom he had sent away in peace after he had visited the king (David) to report his switch of allegiance from Ishbosheth but whom Joab accuses of being a spy. Job then sends soldiers after Abner and once they bring him back Joab himself stabs Abner in the stomach and he dies.

Did he deserve to die? Did he foresee his death? Certainly not. It simply happened. That is how it comes to us today. We merely need to be aware that our clock may stop ticking at any time and do our very best in whatever we do such that when death does eventually catch up with us, people can be glad we lived at such a time as today.

Stupidly as it may sound, it is prudent to plan for our death. And by planning I hope we understand now what I mean. Should we manage to plan very well and have the chance to die peacefully on our deathbeds, I am sure we will be at peace with ourselves in those last earthly moments.

So, if you have not already made peace with yourself about death, please do. Word of caution, though: Don’t be paranoid. Just make sure that if you’re called to be a sweeper in your daily work, you sweep the best until when you are gone, people say for sure there lived a great sweeper here. For you, that will be peace to yourself and a well-planned death.

I hope you got it.