Death

Death, is a very sensitive subject to talk about, but then death itself plays a crucial role
In our lives.

This note is dedicated to those who have lost their loved ones,
Back then, not so long ago, recently, and presently.
I do not mean to offend anyone or to put salt in anybody’s wounds,
This note merely offers you another point of view upon death.
To start, let’s look upon facts on death:
- In this earth, as each second a human is being born, another passes away.

- A priest-doctor (Which was a priest, and also a doctor… duh), once tried to investigate how much a soul of a human weighs. So he successfully devised a bed-scale (Which was a bed, and also a scale…wow!) and put a dying person on it (Don’t ask me who or how). Three hours after the person died, the body became heavier by 0.3 pounds (about 0.13 kg) which was then believed, to be the weight of a person’s soul. It’s fantastic eh? I mean, by just that 0.3 pounds that God gave us, look at what we are capable of doing!

- “Death would be another adventure!” As Peter Pan would put it. We can relate this to many ancient and some present believes. As a person dies, they are to cross this world into the next, and well… there are many versions on what happens next.

- One of the funniest deaths recorded was in the early 1880s, where cars where first invented. You see, back in the day, they don’t have those magical glow sticks, which emit light we call now: flashlights. So a guy decided to take his car for a spin the night, then suddenly his car engine died. He opened his car’s hood, and by having no flashlight, he used a match to create light. He opened the fuel tank… and Whoopsie! Dropped the match in the fuel tank…

- Lady Diana the Fair, Mother Theresa the Kind, Charlie Chaplin the Funny, Adolf Hitler the Fuhrer, Elvis Presley the King, Bruce Lee the Dragon, even Chris Farley the Hilarious died.

People, everywhere, every time, in every way, die.

Let me simplify: Everybody Dies.

But doesn’t it feel good though? Come on, out of all the differences we have: Color, texture, size, shape, social status, money, power, looks and all. We humans, have one commonality, which we can relate together with as mortals: we die.

So having said that, who am I, who are you, to judge?
Who are you to say “I’m better than you”?
Then when we die, we close our eyes (hopefully with an open heart),
We go stiff, cold, and turn to dust. We are all the same!

There is a saying in Indonesia upon mourning: “Do not mourn and cry too much when a loved one passes, for doing so, burdens the departure of the passed one’s soul”
This saying can teach us to be strong. Move on, have courage!

Remember the person for the good deeds he/she has done, remember how the person inspires you, remember how the person played a role in your life

Another interesting observation: Death brings people together. A good friend of mine lost his brother not too long ago, and my friend’s parents were divorced. At the funeral ceremony, everybody was there. Brothers, step siblings, aunts, uncles, father, mother, cousins, were there to comfort and support each other.

This also I find profoundly interesting: When a priest, a leader in a group, a celebrity, or a ‘good’ figure passes away, sayings and prayers like this come out from people:

“Oh he was a man with a divine touch, may God deliver his soul to a beautiful place”
Or
“Oh she’ll go up there and sing with the angels”
Or
“May God be with him”

But, when a local thug, a murderer, a thief, a terrorist, or a ‘bad’ figure passes away, sayings and ‘prayers’ like this will come out from people:

“Oh he deserves to die”
Or
“Rot in hell”
Or
“That’s one ticket straight down there”

Seriously, if a person, or if you did say any of those stuff written above, or even did something worse, have you died? How did it feel? Where did you go? What did you see? WHO did you see?

Really, check your own records.

This may sound quite eccentric, but I somehow envy the dead. They don’t get to suffer more in this wretched world. I admit that I cried my eyes out when a loved one passed, but in the same time, I am really happy for them too. They don’t get to experience the global crisis (which also happens to deliver many deaths), they don’t get to feel that Jakarta gets crappier each day. They don’t get to worry how much they need to spend each day for food.

Be happy for those who left and always pray for their journey to the next realm.

Remember that death is a part of life. Everybody dies, it is just a matter of time. To also mention it is not about when you go, instead it is about how you go, and what legacy you left behind.

So that concludes this note on death.
Hopefully this note enlightens you by giving you another way to look perspective on life, and death itself.


Live Free my friends, Die Well.