Do you ever really stop to ponder your own mortality?
Recent events have caused me to stop and think.... what if.. what if I was killed today?
Wow! What a thought. I am too much of a mess!
Every time I pass a cemetary I cross myself. I pray for the souls that have passed on, but I know this is supposed to help remind me to think of my own mortality.. and I am not very good at doing that. But ... boy I should have been!
If ever I felt an incentive to get my act together it is right now.... thinking of past tragedies like Virginia Tech... of Iraq... of terrorism... of murder...
Here are some quotes I found:
"Death's awful mystery comes upon us suddenly, and soul and body are violently severed, divorced from their natural union by the will of God. What shall we do at that hour if we have not thought of it beforehand, if we have not been instructed concerning this eventuality and find ourselves unprepared?" Holy New Hieromartyr Barlaam
2007-08-25 23:30:14 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The hour of death will come upon us, it will come, and we shall not escape it. May the prince of this world and of the air (cf. John 14:30; Eph. 2:2) find our misdeeds few and petty when he comes, so that he will not have good grounds for convicting us. Otherwise we shall weep in vain. 'For that servant who knew his lord's will and did not do it as a servant, shall be beaten with many stripes' (cf. Luke 12:47). Apophthegmata Patrum
2007-08-25 23:30:45 · update #1
There is no better teacher than death.
Have death before your minds: the time when you will leave this unreal world and will go to the other one, which is eternal. Modern Orthodox Saints I, St. Cosmas Aitolos).Dr. Constantine Cavarnos., INSTITUTE FOR BYZANTINE AND MODERN GREEK STUDIES., Belmont, Massachusetts., pp.81-94
2007-08-25 23:31:08 · update #2
Sometimes in the affliction of your soul you wish to die. It is easy to die, and does not take long; but are you prepared for death? Remember that after death the judgment of your whole life will follow. You are not prepared for death, and if it were to come to you, you would shudder all over. Therefore do not waste words in vain. Do not say: 'It is better for me to die,' but say rather, 'How can I prepare for death in a Christian manner?' By means of faith, by means of good works, and by bravely bearing the miseries and sorrows that happen to you, so as to be able to meet death fearlessly, peacefully, and without shame, not as a rigorous law of nature, but as a fatherly call of the eternal, heavenly, holy, and blessed Father unto the everlasting Kingdom. St. John of Kronstadt (My Life in Christ, Part 1; Holy Trinity Monastery, pg.18)
2007-08-25 23:31:32 · update #3
What do you do to remember death? What suggestions do you have or thoughts? etc.
2007-08-25 23:31:54 · update #4
Nothing but death is certain, death is a fact of life, we were born to die. That is fact. And I see it only as intelligent to prepare for the inevitable. Even if the world lasts for decades from now or even centuries and we lived in a bomb shelter, we could still have a heart attack tonight and our world would come to an end. I personally like to live with the knowledge that one day we will pass on and live like it will be tonight because when it does happen I personally will have prepared myself for the inevitable. To me it makes more logic than choosing to pretend it will never happen so I can live in the sin I want to commit and regretting stupidity for eternity.
But that is just the way I see it.
Take care and may God bless you spiritually.
2007-08-26 00:09:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I really don't think of death much on a daily basis. I've had two people I know die recently, so I've thought about it a little. However, as a Christian, I know "to live is Christ and to die is gain." I do not fear death.
2007-08-26 06:34:56 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Live each day as if it were your last...it might be. Give your life to Jesus...daily...and you will have peace....including about death. He sees the big picture and knows when you are ready. He does not want any lost.
2007-08-26 06:35:46 · answer #3 · answered by bethy4jesus 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ones you are dead you are dead to be forgoten. You can not pray for the dead for salvation. Dead persons will be judge by their own deeds.While still liv ing make good deeds and have faith in God.
jtm
2007-08-26 06:39:47 · answer #4 · answered by Jesus M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
*fingers in his ears*... nahna..nanenah....
2007-08-26 06:37:12 · answer #5 · answered by Klute 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋