Death, the one thing that befalls upon all of us. What comes to our mind when we hear the word death? Grief. Tears. Sorrow. Funerals. Unfortunate. The word "death" is too vulgar to the ordinary human ears so we replace it with the words "passing-away"
It is often paralleled with: hurt, loss of life, disaster, extinction, destruction, and bloodshed. Rather grotesque subjects to be compared to. Humans perceive death as ugly, so cartoonists created the grim reaper: A skeleton infested with worms, rotting away in a grim robe.
But let me offer you a proposition, an alternate view of death. What if I were to tell you that death is in fact a beautiful thing? You would not hesitate to think I'm a cross-breed of an emo and a psycho.
Death is depicted as the moment when life finally ceases to exist-- is it? or is it rather the stepping stone into a different realm? Into a reality where one transcends into beauty.
If you are aware it is now fall, it is the season in which trees begin to - that's right - DIE. The fall season my friends, is the perfect depiction of a beautiful-death. A little bit of bright yellow, red, orange, a combination of colors that change the atmosphere and complexion of nature itself.
It is truly a spectacular sight to behold, when at the final moments of death, they manage to look admirable in the process. Then comes winter, the season in which the trees are lifeless, but are now clothed in fluorescent and vivid Christmas lights. After a few months into the new year, the utmost display of grandeur happens, a beautiful rebirth called spring.
I always wondered why they called this season spring and now I know. The dictionary defines spring as: to come into being by growth. In other words LIFE! Fall - like death - was just a preparation for an awesome rebirth (spring).
A season where the cherry trees blossom forth pink-roses that fall as dancing petals; growth occurs; green vibrant plants; fruits are produced. All these things shout out LIFE. Death is indeed a beautiful thing and beyond its borders are life and rebirth.
How then does this apply to us? The Bible calls us to crucify our flesh in order that our Spirits may live. In layman's terms crucifying the flesh means we are to kill our selfishness, wrong motives, malice, tendency to lie, ability to hurt, self-corruption, and all vices.
And as we die daily to our immoral conducts, it tends to hurt since it is often difficult to let go of our consistent moral faults..but in totality it is truly an incredible experience and an admirable sight.
In order that change may take place in our lives, we need to go out of our comfort zones and do the very thing we all hate: die.
While we shed the leaves of our former selves and undergo the process of death, something incredible takes place: our personal SPRING. Our rebirth as a new person. We develop love for others, have a higher sense of morality; our patience grows, we become sensible and considerate, we self-sacrifice and seek others well-being. Its as if we see things under a different light, we're optimistic, our outlook in life dramatically changes.
But dying is an arduous task and takes a painfully deal of devotion and sacrifice. One must consistently and daily kill themselves. But the fruits of the labor is truly satisfying.
Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, kindness, self-control.
It is like a see-saw: in order to raise one up, one end must go down. Crucify the flesh and we are able to walk in Spirit. I encourage you to live more like the cycle seasons, and when you begin to do so that is when the epiphany of transformation kicks in. Only then you will realize...death is a beautiful thing.
