Death does not have a respectable reputation. Scripture declares it an enemy of mankind, and one of the two ultimate enemies to be destroyed – Satan and death. Even without Scripture, death does not fare well in human opinion. Life is the prize. So mankind fights to live, commonly even when we are vegetating, unable to serve anything, even self. Law sees the execution (death) of the criminal as being the ultimate in punishment – life taking. An enormous fortune is devoted to medicinal science and hospital care to stave off death, even for a few weeks or months. Even so, there is a growing sentiment for drug induced death. It will grow as the society finds it difficult to support an aging population suffering ongoing illnesses.
What is the explanation of those who choose premature death? Do they fit into the story of the vast corps of death resisters? They are to be interpreted in the same sense that any minority is to be evaluated. They have a different context for thinking. Life has become unbearable so that they go into the darkness of death rather than bear whatever is life’s fortune. Not all who deliberately move toward death see it as oppressive and fearful. Or, they may see a vision of something that makes death friendly, a passage to something better. This is common with persons of faith. It is something seen in the martyrs of the church. Many of them welcomed death because they identified it with Christ’s submission to crucifixion, for the good that is found on the other side of death’s door. The world pauses momentarily when it hears of suicidal bombers in warfare, or secular war pilots volunteering for suicidal missions. During World War II the Japanese kamikaze (suicide pilot) was feared by the Allied Navy in the Pacific. These persons for self, god and/or country volunteered their lives for high purpose. They chose death for something they counted more important, even to them, than their own lives. It is not an easy study to seek out the differences between life yearning so to resist inevitable death or to choose death in the place of life – when the choices are voluntary. It is generally taken as tragic and difficult when suicide occurs. Suicide thinks differently.
It is likely that if we knew enough of all the factors related to death, we would admit that it is an enemy. It takes precious life, and life is everything to us for all our experience. However, the fear of death is likely tied to the fear of suffering. If we could contract with God to take us in death quietly in our sleep when he counted out our mortal days, who would not sign such a contract? While we lived, there would be nothing to fear. We would, as John Wesley said in answer to a question about it: go to bed and wake up in heaven. That is if we are Christians. That scenario is hard to beat in the faith context. I have been close to many Christians in their last moments. My mother yearned for the door to open: Why does not the good Lord take me? She died victoriously at 96 years of age. My wife was totally victorious in life when she knew she was going to die from complications that fell to her years long after a kidney transplant. She fell into a coma after a rousing time with her family the evening before, and died about 36 hours later – from family love, to sleep, to coma, to the presence of God, the author of life and love. I am grateful.
We ought to do what we reasonably can to maintain life and health, but the intensity in which one follows diet, exercise, medication, health aids, and what have you for a few years ought to have reason for all. That reason relates to purpose. Am I useful in the lives of others, as I move to isolation and ending? Do I encourage others, pray for others, and avoid taking excess of resources for a few more months of human existence? Or, is my clinging to life related to ineffective hope in God for the next experience he has for the immortal soul? In my view of Scripture, persons live to accomplish God’s plan for time, and then God invites them higher – to life immortal. It is good to have him guide the endings of life which may or not be comfortable. A few years ago, the Pope responding to questions raised about the intense effort to extend life by making it healthier simply added that life is of God, is in God’s hands, and the concept of length should be honored in living out our lives in a natural pattern. He was opposed to any assisted death. Any ordeals experienced in the decline of health to death are countered in the beauties of life. The evidence of God in any alleged neutrality of the universe is life – here and hereafter. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020