4 ms·

Fearing death oft-times seems similar to the fear that accompanies any act which you’ve never done before. About to be married, going to finish school, going on

Fearing death oft-times seems similar to the fear that accompanies any act which you’ve never done before. About to be married, going to finish school, going on a trip... fear is part of all of these experiences, at least until you’ve done it. But I think the fear is made worse because of the stories we’ve told, and heard, about it. Modern movies are a prime example where we can watch what might happen if we die and what we might miss, etc. The more tragic a story the greater the fear that that might overwhelm us. The poems, tales, and stories highlight the effects of death. But in a similar vein, I find comfort in the more positive stories too, such as the ones about Jesus in the Bible. How death came as a result of sin, and how, for some reason, a sacrifice was required to pay the penalty of sin - something else had to die in your stead, like a pigeon or sheep. But of course, how could that really pay that price? No wonder sacrifices were needed regularly. That is until Jesus’ death - an eternal life could pay for an eternal death, for good and forever. All I need to do is believe in Jesus and share that payment. This is a good story, preferable to the ending of say, 300, or Gladiator, for me at least. I’m not sure the eternal life to come will eventually be boring either. The story suggests we remain basically the same, and what has been true is that we grow. True, what interested me as a kid doesn’t hold the same power over me now, nor could I as a child really get into fonts or NLP or traveling! So I reckon that eternal life means eternally growing and developing. I can’t picture it, I’ve not lived it yet, there is some fear there, but overall it sounds pretty good.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
jbandela1 6y ago
> I’m not sure the eternal life to come will eventually be boring either. Along these lines, the ending of "The Last Battle" by CS Lewis which ends the Chronicles of Narnia is so beautiful: "There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
salemh 6y ago
As someone who has come back to faith in God, what helped me greatly is finding the eastern Orthodox Church (which is much different then fire and damnation of the Baptist sort (not to paint too broad of a brush)). The ethos is continually following - as much as we can - the teachings of Christ for reconciliation to God - we judge ourselves, foremost, for Christ did not condemn us. This means condemnation of others and their salvation is up to God, and we are to help others come back to His eternal love. Many will try everything but the love of Christ (speaking of self again) in existential dread with psychedelics, the temptations of the world (which never seem to fill - whether money, material things, power, or partners), self-actualization, yoga, ego-death as nirvana, gnosticism, energy work - but are drawn away from a 2,000 year history of the teachings from Christ to Apostle to the modern Orthodox Church, based on a previous 5,000+ year history of law which was fulfilled in Christ. The west (speaking for myself) tends to only be exposed to Protestant and Roman Catholic doctrine, and offshoots of Protestant such as puritanism, Jehova's Witness, LDS/Mormons, etc. Short video on ethos https://youtu.be/ySgNWCuxjNQ?t=118 https://youtu.be/ySgNWCuxjNQ?t=118 This means being humble, no ego of self, thankfulness in all things, charity and honoring thy neighbor, giving to others selflessly (for life is a give from God), and noting continually ones shortcoming, and thus not condemning others their own that we tell ourselves we perceive. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/orthodox-spirituality/spirituality https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spiritualit... "Every act of a Christian must be a spiritual act. Every thought must be spiritual, every word, every deed, every activity of the body, every action of the person. This means that all that a person thinks, says and does must be inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit so that the will of God the Father might be accomplished as revealed and taught by Jesus Christ the Son of God."

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

jbandela1 6y ago

> I’m not sure the eternal life to come will eventually be boring either. Along these lines, the ending of "The Last Battle" by CS Lewis which ends the Chronicles of Narnia is so beautiful: "There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

salemh 6y ago

As someone who has come back to faith in God, what helped me greatly is finding the eastern Orthodox Church (which is much different then fire and damnation of the Baptist sort (not to paint too broad of a brush)). The ethos is continually following - as much as we can - the teachings of Christ for reconciliation to God - we judge ourselves, foremost, for Christ did not condemn us. This means condemnation of others and their salvation is up to God, and we are to help others come back to His eternal love. Many will try everything but the love of Christ (speaking of self again) in existential dread with psychedelics, the temptations of the world (which never seem to fill - whether money, material things, power, or partners), self-actualization, yoga, ego-death as nirvana, gnosticism, energy work - but are drawn away from a 2,000 year history of the teachings from Christ to Apostle to the modern Orthodox Church, based on a previous 5,000+ year history of law which was fulfilled in Christ. The west (speaking for myself) tends to only be exposed to Protestant and Roman Catholic doctrine, and offshoots of Protestant such as puritanism, Jehova's Witness, LDS/Mormons, etc. Short video on ethos https://youtu.be/ySgNWCuxjNQ?t=118 https://youtu.be/ySgNWCuxjNQ?t=118 This means being humble, no ego of self, thankfulness in all things, charity and honoring thy neighbor, giving to others selflessly (for life is a give from God), and noting continually ones shortcoming, and thus not condemning others their own that we tell ourselves we perceive. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/orthodox-spirituality/spirituality https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spiritualit... "Every act of a Christian must be a spiritual act. Every thought must be spiritual, every word, every deed, every activity of the body, every action of the person. This means that all that a person thinks, says and does must be inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit so that the will of God the Father might be accomplished as revealed and taught by Jesus Christ the Son of God."