Life and death are just things that you do when you're bored

Malcolm Lawrence (malcolm@wolfenet.com)
Mon, 22 Sep 1997 12:54:56 -0700 

> >i'm sorry, but i just don't see death as "a dying of the light".  i love
> >the poem, don't get me wrong, but it's just a symbol to me.  i think
> >people can very easily have a passion for life and accept death at the
> >same time.  it may be foreign for most westerners, but everyone does not
> >see death as an end at all - and don't just mean the typical idea of
> >heaven.  if this is only one plane of existance, which is a common belief
> >worldwide, then there may be all kinds of "light" or "life" to
> >experience.  i'm not trying to go into my personal views on life after
> >death, i'm only saying that there many different perceptions of, and
> >therefore feelings about, life and death.  i don't think it's fair to
> >make such a generalization.
>
> i wasn't actually making a generalization.  in no way am i saying that
> there is definately life after death or anything like that.  i was
> referring to the context of the poem, and the line specifically mentioning
> "dying of the light." personally, i don't believe there is anything after
> this life.  good for me.  good for you if you believe there IS something
> out there.  i believe that we should all have faith in what we OURSELVES
> believe in, and that there is nothing wrong with having beliefs differing
> from those of others.  the beauty of life is that we have the chance to
> become individuals, to develop our own personalities and beliefs and the
> right to defend them.  when life is over, who knows?  maybe i'm wrong and
> there is something wrong, and maybe i'm right and there's nothing. i
> suppose we'll all see when we get there, but until then, there is no way
> that i will sit back and submissively wait for my time on earth to be over.

Ever notice how all the world's religions except for Christianity put
reincarnation at the core of their beliefs? Thanks to the Romans censoring of
the Bible for ulterior political motives eons ago all of Christ's
acknowledgements of reincarnation got excised from the Bible. It wasn't until
the Gnostic Gospels (the Nag Hammadi library) were discovered in Luxor in 1945
that the censored parts of the Bible reveal that Christ fell in line with every
system of faith that came before him and their full embrace of reincarnation.

In light of all of this, though...even though I believe that once I shuffle off
this mortal coil that my soul will pass on to another realm, that doesn't negate
the fact that I'm here now and can enjoy and appreciate life in all of it's
aspects as passionately as I can before I'm called to go somewhere else.
I've always thought Dylan Thomas meant "Rage against the dying of the light"
because, well, why would one want to give up the struggle in this existance so
cavalierly. Passivity, ambivalence, apathy...these are the enemies, not mortal
death. Like Jesus said: "Either be hot or cold or I shall spew thee from my
mouth."

Malcolm